Ever since ChatGPT first catalyzed a frenzy around language-generating AI last fall, prognosticators have imagined the technology’s place in a hyper-efficient, busywork-free office of the future.

By one recent account, AI could automate the tasks that take up 60% to 70% of a typical office worker’s day. But how does that vision square with the tech’s tendency to make things up? And where might generative AI actually be useful in the course of a daily routine?

In continuation of our series on workplace AI (part one focused on venture capitalists), we’re looking at how some enterprise-focused startups are attempting to mold large language models (LLMs) into workplace tools.

Keep reading here.—PK

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While talk of regulating AI might be in vogue in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants Congress to spend some time beefing up on the particulars of AI before considering any regulation.

Speaking at an event in IBM’s Manhattan office earlier this week, the New York senator gave more details on a series of nine forums that he and a handful of colleagues plan to hold this September and October with experts from the AI community.

The goal is to understand the implications that the rise of generative AI might have, including everything from copyright and intellectual property issues and workforce changes to national security risks and doomsday scenarios, the senator said.

Schumer said he wants to hear from proponents and “skeptics—opposing views will be welcome,” and to approach the forums with a sense of “humility” in trying to understand the ins and outs of the tech.

Keep reading here.—PK

The Biden administration has released the implementation plan for its National Cybersecurity Strategy—officially setting in motion its ambitious initiative to shore up vulnerable cyber defenses and improve preparedness nationwide.

The plan establishes timelines and expectations for its five “pillars,” which include “defend critical infrastructure,” “disrupt and dismantle threat actors,” “shape market forces to drive security and resilience,” as well as long-term investment in cybersecurity internationally.

All told, the White House plan lays out more than 65 separate initiatives, which Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden told reporters constitutes a “living document” and will be updated in 2024 to a 2.0 version, according to CyberScoop.

Keep reading here.—TM

Stat: 6.5%. That’s the percentage of Prime Day orders that utilized buy now, pay later services this year, a 20% YoY increase, Retail Brew reported, citing Adobe Analytics data.

Quote: “Google has categorically failed as a steward of the web, and over the course of about 10 or 15 years, [has] effectively just turned on customers entirely. It’s almost as if you have to trick Google into giving you what you want.”—EZPR CEO Ed Zitron, to the Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz, on how search is changing

Read: Inside the private writings of Caroline Ellison, star witness in the FTX case (the New York Times)

Links we love: We haven’t found the cure for burnout…but we found something close to it: delegation. Learn how to delegate and free up time to focus on strategic tasks with our Building High Performance Teams sprint. Sign up now.

Journey to market: How can product teams get the most from their testing strategy? What role is AI-enabled tech playing in product development? Get these answers + more at Tech Brew’s upcoming event, sponsored by NI.*

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Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

Spiderwebs: If you’re like us, the only phone calls you get are from your parents checking in once a week and scammers checking in once an hour. And, again, if you’re like us, you let every call go to voicemail. And then you never listen to it.

This is a far cry from The Analog Age, when we only had landlines and these rectangular devices called “answering machines” that allowed you to record your voice in lieu of picking up the phone. (Or, in our case, a song playing in the background to emphasize the ~*mood*~ behind the recorded message: “Leave a message after the beep and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”)

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple’s upcoming iOS17 is trying to resurrect answering machines (nostalgia is a helluva drug—and marketing tool) with “‘Live Voicemail,’ [which] gives you a real-time text transcript of a voicemail as the caller is leaving it. You can even pick up mid-message.”

Our question to you: Is Live Voicemail a useful product or a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist?