Don't fancy making that presentation? Let your avatar do it


New research finds that 95 percent of workers would allow an AI avatar to perform tasks in a virtual meeting, such as making presentations, for them.
The study of 4,000 people worldwide from business travel management platform, TravelPerk shows employees prefer to assign admin-focused tasks in meetings to AI avatars, such as reminding them of deadlines (61 percent) or scheduling meetings (54 percent) which can then enable them to focus on more 'human' interactions.
The Deep Tech revolution -- Part 2: Meetups


Welcome back to Zama’s ‘Deep Tech Series’, exploring activities and initiatives that, while seemingly confined to companies and startups heavily technology driven, can potentially be applied to other organizations. Thanks to insights of experts in cryptography, privacy, blockchain and Machine Learning, the aim is to provide useful guidance on how to implement these activities in any kind of tech-driven company and beyond.
In the first installment, we looked at the advantages and added value of releasing white papers, a type of research and data based content that can share information about a product or technology while showcasing the company’s knowledge and expertise. In this follow up, we'll look at the importance of engaging and growing your tech community through meetups.
Microsoft has rebuilt Teams from the ground up to make it faster and less resource-hungry


Microsoft has launched a public preview of the new Microsoft Teams app for Windows. The app is the result of a "reimagining of Teams from the ground up", with the focus very much being on performance. It is being heralded as "the new era of Microsoft Teams" and sees the app not only performing better, but also being simplified to improve ease-of-use.
At the same time, the company has also started the rollout of Avatars for Microsoft Teams. The new feature gives users a different way to present themselves in online meetings -- a highly customizable 3D avatar instead of video.