Walmart has launched a new tool, ‘My Assistant,’ which is designed to empower home office associates in Canada. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to streamline work processes. It’s a game changer for workplace productivity, especially for remote working environments.
Technology leader at Walmart Canada, Michon Williams, highlights the diverse ways in which technology can accelerate work tasks and potentially improve customer service. In a posting on her LinkedIn page, Williams confirms that My Assistant is a Gated-Environment that enables associates to tap into the large language models of Generative AI while protecting your IP, privacy, and information security.
“We’ve been encouraging our tech teams and business partners to leverage My Assistant to explore new ways to complete work over the last few months with great results! How exciting to turn this on for all home office associates,” she says.
Walmart’s commitment to integrating tech
“As a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer, we’re always looking for ways to integrate technology into our daily lives. [This] helps [to] simplify and modernize our ways of working,” says Williams. “We want to lean into this technology to help our associates simplify tasks in their day-to-day.”
From drafting emails and summarizing research to helping generate code and database queries, generative AI hopes to speed up work and free staff to do more critical tasks. The extra time and effort will trickle down to customer service. “From speeding up the drafting process to summarizing large documents or meeting notes,” says Williams.
Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are big tech companies already using generative AI to assist with mundane tasks.
Vox reports that Google uses a generative AI tool, Bard, which is currently only available to English speakers. Amazon has also revealed its “near-human-like-conversations” with Alexa. At the same time, Microsoft’s Copilot is embedded across many of its products.
ALSO READ: Navigating the legal maze of AI
Are you considering generative AI?
Research is pivotal to implementing any new feature, capability, or tech update.
Here are three reasons why you should consider it for your business.
Time efficiency: It saves time for routine tasks like drafting emails, summarizing documents, and taking notes in meetings.
Productivity: Automation is your new virtual best friend. More can be done in one day to help colleagues meet tight deadlines. It’s also an excellent asset for remote staff who might feel isolated from team ideas.
Creativity: Less energy is wasted, meaning the creative juices can be ramped up to concentrate on new ideas, problem-solving, and innovation.
Why you should be cautious:
Job security uncertainty: Many employees might feel threatened, fearing redundancy. This is why clear communication and transparency is vital.
Security risks: Unfortunately, it opens up cybersecurity risks when handling sensitive information through My Assistant. Implementing robust security software and educating staff about protocols is essential.
Ethical consideration: Never overlook responsible and ethical use of technology. When navigating through the maze, companies must establish clear guidelines and policies to ensure it’s used ethically.
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
