I have maintained for several years, including a book ‘AI for Learning’, that AI is the technology of the age and will change everything. This is unfolding as we speak but it is interesting to ask who the winners are likely to be.

The cigar goes to Microsoft. Google comes second… But first Microsoft: 

1. They were wise to pay $1billion for OpenAI in 2019 as that has already led to a massive multiple in value. The monetisation of these tools at volume is a certain winner and they have the computing power to deliver.

2. DALL-E now powers Bing Image Creator and is the start of something very big in images. This is starting to move towards the creation of video and 3D objects and worlds that gives edge in the Metaverse.

3. Then there’s GPT functionality in Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, future proofing these office tools. This changes these from tools to powerful, generative job aids. It will help you write, design presentations and use spreadsheets with a significant increase in speed and quality.

4. Their ability to deliver via Teams is also possible. AI is already built into the platform. One can expect learning content to be one beneficiary.

5. They also own GitHub which has released the amazingly well received Copilot, increasing productivity in coding.

6. Valle also produces an AI voices. AI is the new UI.

7. Azure and associated services give them global and important edge computing delivery.