Tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) has fielded a lot of questions and concerns about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in human lives. Not all of the answers out of Microsoft have been especially comforting to regular humans. New word from Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s CEO of AI, presents a new threat that may actually be worse than the earlier ones. Investors were not happy about it either, and sent shares down fractionally in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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Suleyman does not look for AI to create widespread layoffs. That is good news, on a comparative level, but what does concern Suleyman most is actually almost more insidious than the idea of a load of pink slips hitting the market all at once. Suleyman noted, “My central worry is that many people will not be able to adapt fast enough to the changes brought by AI.”
Basically, Suleyman notes that the developmental pace of AI is proceeding at such a rate that, by the time humans adapt to one set of changes, a whole new set may crop up. Eventually, change will hit at such a pace that it will not be a matter of humans being unwilling to adapt, but humans simply being unable, because the AI moves too fast. Suleyman, therefore, suggests that “reskilling programs” and “digital literacy” are prioritized as a means to help keep pace. Even here, Suleyman’s suggestions may be a Band-Aid over a bullet wound.
The Elegant Xbox 360 Solution
There is always a certain amount of enthusiasm for retro gaming out there, no matter what the platform. And the Xbox 360 is still alive and well in some sectors. A console repair tech recently tried to breathe new life into an Xbox 360 that had a debt crisis, and Microsoft techs offered a surprisingly elegant fix.
The console in question had had its ability to play games locked out over “bad debt,” reports noted. An error message detailed: “Sorry, this console can’t play until your subscription payments are up to date.” But a Microsoft MVP named Eric Marsi offered a suggestion: update the console with update 17559, which would remove the lock. The update, released in November 2019, basically acknowledged that Xbox models sold under subscription plans had either all paid them off or never would, so the update just pulled the lock altogether.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 33 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 21.85% rally in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $624.08 per share implies 24.7% upside potential.
