Yesterday, Microsoft conference has garnered widespread attention - Microsoft has officially integrated OpenAI's GPT-4 model into the Office suite and launched a new AI feature called Copilot. This innovation will completely revolutionize people's work styles and change the way people interact with information in the future.
After watching the conference-related news and videos, as well as Satya Nadella's explanation, it really shook me in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. I believe many friends in the technology, investment, and media industries have had similar feelings. Many people are calling this the "iPhone moment" for AI.
Here, I would like to analyze my "shock" and summarize it into three aspects.
1. Can you ask the right questions?
Firstly, as many people have shared online today, Copilot will greatly improve people's work efficiency.
In Word, you can have Copilot write articles, edit text, and summarize for you. It can even help you accurately grasp the tone of the article (a feature I have used many times recently with ChatGPT).
In PPT, you can tell it a few sentences, and it will automatically create a whole set of beautiful pages for you.
In Excel, Copilot can generate clear tables for you in just a few seconds and handle any data processing, formulas, and so on. I haven't really learned how to do all of this after so many years.
This is just the current form of Copilot. I think it will continue to evolve in the future. And the requirement it puts forward to us humans is: can you ask the right questions?
If you have used ChatGPT, Midjourney or read about Copilot, you will find that if you interact with AI with more accurate wording, AI can give you more accurate and efficient answers. Asking the right questions and describing the problem you want to solve is crucial for AI to give you the answer you want.
You need to have a problem to solve, such as wanting to write an article on a particular topic, then let AI help you write a first draft, and then you can make some adjustments yourself. This can be much faster than writing the article from scratch.
The most important role for humans in work is to ask the right questions, and the rest of the problem-solving work can gradually be handed over to AI.
Humans need to learn how to communicate effectively with AI and make AI a tool to improve efficiency, which requires mastering the correct way to ask questions and express oneself.
You need to grasp the most correct way to ask questions, rather than just writing "proficient in Office software" on your resume. In the future, many companies that provide training in software usage skills may need to consider transitioning.
2. Prepare yourself for the next revolution
The change in information exchange methods has always been one of the important driving forces for the development of the media industry.
From ancient oral transmission, writing, and printing, to modern TV, mobile phones, the internet, social media, etc., every technological advancement has brought about significant changes to the media industry. My career coincides with the most recent wave of change - the mainstream forms of media have gradually shifted from traditional newspapers, TV news, and magazines to the internet, graphics, and short videos.
Each change in information exchange methods has greatly altered the ecosystem of the media industry. It also requires people to quickly adapt to and adjust to changes.
In fact, the iPhone is also an example of this. It did not suddenly appear, but various technological developments had reached a certain level of maturity, and the iPhone integrated them together, changing the way people interact with computers and information. Nowadays, we watch videos, read jokes, order taxis, and food delivery every day, and these business models have only emerged in recent years.
Copilot is also like this. Imagine that in the future, Copilot may also be deeply integrated into Microsoft systems, computers, mobile phones, and other hardware. Lumia phones may regain new life, and it is even unknown if it may challenge the position of the iPhone.
This also means that future computers, mobile phones, and other devices will have more intelligent "brains" and be able to better understand and process human language and intentions. This will lead to another iteration in the interaction between humans and computers. Like the "wallfacers" in the Three-Body Problem, we may be able to interact with computers more freely through natural language and text or voice.
This will also challenge our ways and habits of communication. As professionals in the information and media industry, we also need to constantly learn and adapt to these changes in order to better meet future developments.
3. Don't immerse yourself into Competition
I have many friends in the technology circle in my social network, and there has been a lot of discussion recently about OpenAI, Microsoft, and other companies' moves. Now, OpenAI's valuation has reached $29 billion, and this hard-tech AI company, founded in 2015, has changed the world and everyone's perception.
Yesterday afternoon, Baidu just finished its WENXIN YIYAN press conference, and last night, Microsoft's press conference showed a "downgrade attack" attitude to other technology companies and internet enterprises. We already have many strong points. We have a massive amount of data, many young and ambitious entrepreneurs, experienced scientists, and applications for relevant patents that have once led the world.
This can indeed make many people feel lost. Some people say that this sense of loss will not be loudly discussed- are we left behind again?
👆The image was generated by AI. I asked ChatGPT "What do you look like" and then typed the description into Midjourney
Of course, the factors involved are complex and cannot be simply attributed to us all being engaged in "inward investment" or just thinking about how to make money. However, there are many companies and practitioners who are really indulged in comparisons, tired competition, and showing off. The so-called "boiling frog" scenario may have given everyone a real shock with Microsoft's recent series of actions.
Compared to the possibly still distant science fiction movie scenes, what I am more concerned about now is how to combine technology, information, media means, and all the real feelings around us.
All of this needs to be gradually pushed forward, and more people need to work together. In this way, we can make real progress in autonomous innovation capabilities, resource utilization efficiency, industrial structure level, informationization level, quality benefits, and so on, and benefit more people.
It sounds like a huge proposition. I am honored to be able to participate in this wave.