As technology continues to rapidly develop, the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) taking over human roles and being present in everyday life is becoming a reality. Today, AI programs such as Midjourney and DALL-E are capable of creating hyper-realistic images and complex works of art in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, Open AI’s ChatGPT started making headlines in March 2023 for its impressive ability to craft well-written essays, solve mathematical problems, code, and engage in conversations with users. As tech magnate Bill Gates said, humanity has entered the AI age.
Numerous industries—from not-for-profit organizations to e-commerce and gaming—already are looking for ways to integrate AI into their operations. While some fear that AI will replace human labor and creativity, others are tapping into the technology’s potential to improve how businesses interact with their customers.
In what follows, we break down three remarkable ways in which artificial intelligence is facilitating customer loyalty.
AI
Data collection
One of the main strengths of AI is its ability to collect and organize high volumes of user-generated data. This type of data is incredibly valuable for any business, as it reveals a lot about the customer, including website interactions, purchase history, and social media engagement. In isolation, that data may not mean much. However, once analyzed by AI, it can be streamlined and converted into digestible insights and visual charts.
Taking that data into consideration, marketers can make informed decisions that drive marketing strategies, targeted and market-entry campaigns, product launches, and more.
Personalized recommendations and offers
By using collected data and specialized algorithms, AI can assist in delivering customized experiences and interest-based content to individual customers, which makes them feel as if the brand understands their preferences and tastes.
Perhaps one of the most notorious examples is content recommendations on streaming platforms. On its Help Center site, Netflix clearly states that they “estimate the likelihood that you will watch a particular title in our catalog based on a number of factors”. Such factors include the user’s viewing history and rating of previous titles coupled with the information provided by other members with similar tastes and information about the titles (genre, actors, release year, etc).
Another industry that utilizes this strategy is gaming, particularly casino platforms. Overall, reputable casino sites focus on building customer loyalty by offering a number of benefits to players, including deposit bonuses, free spins, and VIP programs. But, with AI, they can go a step further and tailor their messaging and content to each individual player.
24/7 support availability and quick responses
Customer service is a detrimental factor in customer loyalty. In fact, 83% of customers agree that good customer support will turn them from one-time shoppers into lifers.
With the help of chatbot technology, businesses can provide their customers with automated customer service that is available around the clock. Medium to large-scale businesses and brands likely have customers all over the world. This means that human customer support agents won’t be always able to address urgent requests and issues from customers residing in different time zones. In this way, AI-powered chatbots are a convenient solution.
Using AI assistants is also a great way to ensure that customers get quick responses to simple queries whenever customer support agents are too busy solving more complex cases.
To conclude
Artificial intelligence has the potential to change the way businesses interact with their customers, giving them a more personalized and meaningful experience. This helps to strengthen customer satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately increasing the business’ overall success.
Just as the industrial revolution changed how people worked, the AI revolution is altering how people communicate with businesses.
Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 17, brings a host of new features to enhance the things you do every day. From new ways to express yourself when calling or messaging someone to convenient new ways to share content, iOS 17 offers new experiences for your iPhone. The company made the announcements at WWDC 2023 where it introduced other innovations.
One of the most exciting updates is the new plus button in iMessage. This button allows you to view all the things you send the most, such as photos, audio messages, and your location. You can also swipe up to view the rest of your iMessage apps. Additionally, there is a new catch-up arrow that lets you jump to the first message you haven’t seen in a conversation and you can now swipe to the right on any message to send a reply.
Another great feature is the ability to share your location or request a friend’s location from the plus button. When someone shares their location with you, you can view it directly within your conversation. Audio messages are now transcribed so you can read them in the moment and listen later.
The new stickers drawer lets you access all your Live Stickers, emoji, Memoji, and other sticker packs in one place. Your stickers sync with iCloud so they are available on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. You can use Markup to add stickers to photos, documents, screenshots, and more.
There are also updates to FaceTime. You can now record a video or audio message when someone misses your FaceTime call. Additionally, there is a new reaction feature that fills the camera frame with fun 3D augmented reality effects like hearts, confetti, fireworks, and more.
One of the new features in iOS 17 is the Smart Home Lock Screen. This feature allows users to control their smart home devices directly from their iPhone’s lock screen. The Control Center has also been updated to provide quick access to frequently used controls and settings.
Another new feature is Live Activities. This feature allows users to stay on top of things happening in real-time. Active Widgets are another addition to iOS 17, providing users with glanceable information and quick actions for their most frequently used apps.
NameDrop is a new feature in iOS 17 that allows you to share your contact information with someone else by holding your iPhone near their iPhone or Apple Watch. You can choose which phone numbers or email addresses you want to share and can also share your Contact Poster instantly. This feature makes it easy to exchange contact information with someone you’ve just met.
The Health App has also received updates in iOS 17. Users can now track new types of data and receive personalized insights and recommendations to improve their health and well-being. Apple Music has also been updated with new customization options, allowing users to personalize their listening experience even further.
These are just some of the many new features in iOS 17. Here are the compatible iPhones that can upgrade to the new OS.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2023 was jam-packed with exciting announcements for developers. Announcing a series of major and minor innovations at one of the most anticipated events in the tech industry.
Apple introduces a new Apple Vision Pro device as it ventures into the spatial computing world. New 15‑inch MacBook Air with M2, Mac Studio with M2 Max and M2 Ultra, and Mac Pro with M2 Ultra. There are now previews of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, and watchOS 10. But that’s not all there are more improvements to make your everyday living comfortable, productive, and easy. Watch the video below for a quick tour of the new improvements and read on for more.
Here are 10 new things that were announced at WWDC 2023 for developers
iOS 17
Apple showed off a heap of new functionality coming to iOS 17 during this year’s installment of its annual developer conference. Here are some of the features:
Smarter ‘transformer’ word prediction model: iOS 17 introduces a smarter new ‘transformer’ word prediction model, with sentence-level autocorrection and improvements for the language model used for voice dictation.
New contact cards: As part of iOS 17, Apple has extended the same thinking to contact cards. As well as a bold full-screen image, when a contact calls, you’ll also get a depth-mapped caller name, and the ability to customize both the image and the font size and color.
Live voicemail: iOS 17 looks to take the experience of managing your voicemails even further, with live voicemail displaying a real-time transcript of the message that’s being left.
FaceTime messages: A small addition, but iOS 17 will let you leave FaceTime video messages, should whoever you’re calling be unable to pick up.
New functionality to Messages: iOS 17 looks to be bringing a sizable suit of new functionality to Messages, from search filters and inline replies to more easily navigate your chats, to inline location sharing.
Vision Pro VR headset
An Apple-branded augmented reality/virtual reality has been rumored for years and years, but it’s finally here. The final part of the WWDC keynote was dedicated to the Vision Pro AR headset.
15-inch MacBook Air
Apple announces a new 15-inch MacBook Air at WWDC 2023. The 15‑inch laptop comes with a Liquid Retina display and is powered by the M2 chip, with up to 18 hours of battery life.
New Mac Studio and Mac Pro
Apple also announced the new Mac operating system macOS Sonoma with widgets and game mode. The new Mac Studio comes with M2 Max and the new M2 Ultra, whilst the Mac Pro features M2 Ultra and PCIe expansion.
Journal app
Apple announces a new Journal app at WWDC 2023 that will be coming later this year. The Journal app will make personalized suggestions of moments for you to remember and write about. Using on-device machine learning based on your photos, music, workouts, and more.
These are just some of the exciting new things that were announced at WWDC 2023 for developers. The week-long event will feature other technical sessions, hands-on labs, and networking opportunities for developers from around the world.
Team TAWI, winners in the education category of the 2023 Imagine Cup world finals qualifying round have gone on to win the World Championship. The team qualified from 48 competing global teams to be selected among the top 3 to compete in the World Championship at Microsoft Build. They win the grand prize of USD 100,000, a mentorship session with Microsoft’s Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella, and Level 2 access to Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.
They faced winning teams from the Americas and Asia regions; Eupnea from the United States, and CS-M Tool from Thailand, respectively. Winning the competition showcasing their solution that seeks to help people with auditory processing disorder communicate more easily. It leverages speech recognition tools from Azure Cognitive Services and OpenAI Whisper to enhance speech, reduce background noise, and transcribe speech to text in real-time.
The team will work to take their solution to the next phase and scale it. Watch the full 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship event and hear more about their solution.
Republic of Gamers (ROG) announces the launch of the ROG Ally, a new Windows 11 gaming handheld. The ROG Ally runs on an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and can breeze through AAA games and indie titles in 1080p with ease. It will be available for sale worldwide on June 13th, 2023 for $699.99, with pre-orders starting May 11th.
The next-gen handheld ROG Ally offers Full HD gaming on the go. It promises to run modern AAA titles faster and smoother than any other handheld on the market. Since it runs Windows 11, it can play any game from any platform and includes 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate right out of the box.
The Ally is powered by an all-new Ryzen Z1 Series processor from AMD. Built on the “Zen” 4 architecture combined with AMD RDNA 3 architecture-based graphics, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor rivals the prowess of game consoles with 8 cores, 16 threads, and up to 8.6 teraflops of graphics processing power.
Making this possible is ROG’s Zero Gravity thermal system, which uses a dual-fan system with ultra-thin heatsink fins and high-friction heat pipes to ensure the Ally stays cool in any orientation. The Ally also comes equipped with 16GB of high-speed LPDDR5 6400MHz memory, 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 storage, and a UHS-II microSD card slot to further expand its storage capacity.
Flagship gaming performance demands a panel to match, and the Ally does not disappoint. Equipped with a 120Hz Full HD (1080p) panel with AMD FreeSync™ Premium technology, gamers will enjoy supreme motion clarity in fast-paced games, with no tearing or stuttering.
The ROG Ally takes handheld gaming to new heights. With a Full HD screen and hardware capable of 60 FPS in many of the latest titles, the ROG Ally provides an on-the-go experience that will satisfy gamers of all stripes. Compared to the 720p resolution of competing devices, the ROG Ally offers superior image and motion clarity thanks to its Full HD panel and AMD FreeSync™ Premium technology.
The Ryzen Z1 Extreme equipped model with 512GB of storage will be available for pre-order starting on May 11th and available for sale for $699.99 at Best Buy on June 13th. The ROG Ally model with the Ryzen Z1 chip will be available later this year.
ROG Ally specifications
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Processor
AMDRyzen™ Z1 Extreme ProcessorCPU: Zen 4 architecture, 8-core /16-threads, 24MB total cache ,up to 5.10Ghz boostGPU: 12 RDNA3CUs, up to 2.7GHz, 8.6TFlops, default 4GB RAM capacityAPU Power: 9-30W
1 x ROG XG Mobile Interface and USB Type-C combo port (with USB 3.2 Gen2, supports DisplayPort™ 1.4)
1 x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC)
Control and Input
Gamepad controls:A B X Y buttonsD-padL & R Hall Effect analog triggersL & R bumpersView buttonMenu buttonCommand Center buttonArmoury Crate button2 x assignable grip buttonsThumbsticks: 2 x full-size analog sticks with capacitive touchHaptics: HD hapticsGyro: 6-Axis IMU
Audio
AI noise-canceling technology
Dolby Atmos
Hi-Res certification
Built-in array microphone
2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology
Network and Communication
Triple band Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) 2 x 2Bluetooth 5.2
Battery
40WHrs
Power Supply
65W USB Type-C PD 3.0 power supplyAdapter: 65W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 3.25A, 65W, Input: 100~240V AC 50/60Hz universal
AURA SYNC
Yes
Weight
~608g (1.34 lbs)
Dimensions (W x D x H)
28.0 x 11.1 x 2.12 ~ 3.24 cm (11.02″ x 4.37″ x 0.83″ ~ 1.27″)
Microsoft has announced a suite of new AI solutions and improvements to Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit. These solutions are designed to transform the nonprofit industry by helping fundraisers engage with donors, manage campaigns, and optimize operations. The company also announced a limited private preview for nonprofits to experience a new AI-powered fundraising propensity model. This model will allow participating nonprofits to test new AI tools that can predict fundraising goals and identify donors most likely to donate to a campaign or cause.
According to Justin Spelhaug, Vice President and Global Head of Tech for Social Impact at Microsoft, “AI can and will be a game-changer for nonprofits and fundraisers.” With these new AI solutions, Microsoft aims to empower nonprofits and fundraisers to achieve more and create a more positive and rewarding experience for donors.
Nonprofits often struggle to make budgets go further and do more with fewer resources. Since 2020, many fundraisers have seen a decline in the number of donors giving to causes. Data can help nonprofits identify promising prospects, predict donor behavior, and measure fundraising outcomes. However, access to data and the ability to form actionable insights based on fundraising analytics is a major roadblock for many organizations.
Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit new AI solutions
Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit now includes new tools such as a Fundraising dashboard built on Power BI’s data visualization platform, Dynamics 365 Marketing integration, and AI capabilities in the Fundraising and Engagement tools. These tools will help nonprofits leverage data in a powerful way to attract, retain, and grow their donor base.
In addition to these new capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, Microsoft is developing an AI-based donor propensity model. This model will help nonprofits identify constituents most likely to donate or engage with a campaign or cause based on predictive donor behavior. Interested nonprofits can sign up to participate in this private preview.
These new AI solutions are built on Microsoft’s trusted cloud platform, Azure, which offers enhanced security, scalability, and reliability. They are also integrated with Microsoft’s existing solutions for nonprofits such as Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and LinkedIn.
