The Near Memo Apple Business Connect is important, Stack ranking of employees: effective or sadistic? AI’s next step: productization
Why the new Apple Business Connect is so important:
Apple Business Connect is both a small business interface AND an API. The small business interface is very elegant and supports very hi res imagery as well as a Post-like product called Showcases. The bigger news is probably the roll-out of the API. This is the first time Apple has allowed third parties to directly interact with Maps. When you realize that Business Connect is positioned as a way to integrate your business Place Card with a whole suite of Apple products including iMessage, Apple Pay, Siri and more you have to wonder what role this will play in Apple’s coming augmented reality play.
The value of stack ranking as a way to prune employees:
The tech industry over-hired during the demand created by Covid. With a recession on the horizon and growth constrained, many tech companies including Google are looking to become more efficient and are using stack ranking as a way to identify low performing employees. Will this lead to an exodus of good employees or to a loss of morale?
AI’s rapid advancements and easy implementation will impact everything from audio chat bots to Excel:
Vall-e translates text to speech based on a person’s actual voice. The quality of AI voice generation based has implications across a range of applications from chat bots to deceptive scams. The Neeva search engine shows the way how it will be integrated into search. The growing productization points to the integration of these new capabilities as a feature in a range of software features. Whether this commodifies AI or leaves it in the hands of a few dominant players remains to be seen.
The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
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