One hundred and fifty New Zealand executives were given Spark-funded scholarships for a four-week course all about learning how to use modern AI tools to boost business productivity.
We talked to two of them, NZME's Matt Martel and the NZ Institute of Directors' Kirsten 'KP' Patterson, who explained what they learned from the course and how it shaped their thinking about AI.
They outline the business cases they developed during the course and how they have started implementing them within their organisations.
Plus, Australia's open banking woes, concerns over AI power carbon emissions, and Mt Gox and Cryptopia bankruptcy updates.
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Reading list
From the interview
- How to get AI to work for you and your business – Matt Martel on BusinessDesk
- How to use AI to make smarter strategic decisions – Matt Martel on BusinessDesk
- AI at work: productivity booster or job killer? – Matt Martel on BusinessDesk
- AI's rise is making workplaces more efficient. Now it's time to get creative – Matt Martel on BusinessDesk
- Upcoming webcast July 31: The productivity opportunity of AI with David Downs, Anna Campbell, Kirsten (KP) Patterson – Institute of Directors
News wrap
- $1.65b project to simplify switching banks a 'flop' – AAP
- ABA review into dismal open banking take up calls for collective rethink – Finxtra
- Australia’s big banks, which made a $32.5 billion profit last year, are whingeing about the cost of the Consumer Data Right – Startup Daily
- Power-hungry AI is driving a surge in tech giant carbon emissions. Nobody knows what to do about it – The Conversation
- Rod Drury calls for radical shakeup of energy industry – BusinessDesk
- AI will be help rather than hindrance in hitting climate targets, Bill Gates says – The Guardian
- AI is Now Shovel Ready. Five predictions for the upcoming data centre construction boom, and its implications for energy and the economy – Sequoia Capital
- Microsoft and Google’s GHG emissions gains call viability of net-zero targets into question – Computer Weekly
- After a 10-Year Wait, Mt Gox Bitcoin Is Finally Being Returned – Wired
- $775,000 remains of Cryptopia's $28m in assets – BusinessDesk
- User growth at X stalls after Musk takeover and rise of Meta’s Threads – NZ Herald
- AI industry needs to earn $600 billion per year to pay for massive hardware spend. Fears of an AI bubble intensify in wake of Sequoia report – Tom’s Hardware
- Chugging gigabytes: New Zealand internet use hits all-time high – NZ Herald
- What happens when Facebook ends news in a country – Voxpop
- Ray Kurzweil still says he will merge with AI – NZ Herald
- How Good Is ChatGPT at Coding, Really? – IEEE Spectrum
