Microsoft CEO emphasizes the need for humanity to harness AI; Oracle sends staid early-morning layoff memo

Greetings, comms pros! Let’s take a look at a few stories from the last week and see what we can learn from them.

1. Microsoft chief tells employees that AI should say under ’human control’

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that human beings need to be at the controls in a memo to the company’s employees obtained by Business Insider. The message comes amid an ongoing public debate about the power of AI and the ability people will have to control it.

The memo dropped shortly following the public release of Microsoft’s “Humanist AI Code of Conduct,” which outlines the company’s goals in the AI-decision making process by putting human beings at the forefront. The code states:

“This Code of Conduct is motivated by a single overriding objective: that humans must retain meaningful control over AI so that it can help people live healthier, happier, and more productive lives.”

In the memo, Nadella echoed the tenets of the code:

First, we need to be clear about the design goal. As I shared, AI has to remain under human control and broadly benefit society. That means building a frontier ecosystem where both closed and open-source models can thrive, and being deliberate about pacing when it comes to alignment.

Nadella continued the note by stating that Microsoft employees must ensure that customers using AI stay in control of their knowledge and that the company must earn the trust to build the data centers that power AI in a way that benefits the communities near them.

The Microsoft memo is interesting because it’s an internal-facing memo about an external debate over AI in the public sphere. Employees are getting the company’s position from Nadella in the note, which is probably what their family and friends are asking them about anyway. When read side-by-side with Microsoft’s recently rolled out code of conduct, it shares some of the same language and the overarching aim: that human beings remain in control of AI and aware of the power of the technology. The memo can be viewed as a reinforcement message of the ideals outlined in the memo from the top of the organization in order to drive it home.

Nadella’s memo doesn’t contain lots of specifics on what employees need to do differently, and the human control line doesn’t get much definition beyond that one sentence. But in a world where everything internal is external, Nadella and the comms team at Microsoft are smart to make their stance well-known, as it supports the message in the publicly shared code.

2. Oracle sends brief early morning layoff note as CFO

Software company Oracle conducted a new round of layoffs and alerted affected employees through a brief, impersonal email earlier this week. Business Insider reported that Oracle’s memo to employees arrived early in the morning before the work day started and was very direct.

“We are sharing some difficult news regarding your position,” the note read. “After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. As a result, today is your last working day.”

The note continued with notices about severance and the fact that employees’ computers would soon become inaccessible.

In an all-hands following the layoffs, CFO Hilary Maxson said that doing more with less resources was not the solution.

“This means being thoughtful about where we spend our time and money,” Maxson said. “I don’t mean doing more with less, which is a phrase that I really, really don’t like. It means simplifying processes that don’t help customers and making clear choices on where we’re going to use our resources where they have the greatest impact.”

When considering these two messages about the state of Oracle together, it’s notable how differently the memo and Maxson’s messaging was. Affected employees got a few paragraphs before they woke up, while those who remained got a more thoughtful message from the CFO. The difference in language also varies widely, with the memo being stark corporate wording and Maxson having a more human touch.

It’s also worth considering that there’s an impact on employer branding here — yes, Oracle is one of the world’s top software companies, when but when layoffs are handled this way, that might cause top talent to go elsewhere if their choices are between Oracle and another top-level competitor. As the saying goes, and is the lesson for Microsoft’s AI memo, what’s internal is also external.

3. Shopify CEO says AI ‘slop grenades’ make work more difficult

Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke called out low-quality AI work on Shane Parrish’s “The Knowledge Project” podcast, saying that while AI helps employees create work more quickly, it doesn’t create high-quality work on its own. Without the oversight of human beings, AI output can become low-quality and impede workflows.

“We call those ‘slop grenades’ that people toss at each other,” Lutke said. “And that’s definitely a bad thing.”

Lutke is no stranger to AI comments regarding how his employees work, stating last year that employees at Shopify have used “reflexive and brilliant use of AI to get 100X the work done.”

Additionally, his callout of poor AI work with the term ”slop grenades” is interesting because because states that bad AI-generated work is a direct contributor to slowing down workflows at Shopify. Additionally, by communicating what he doesn’t want in a shorthand phrase, Lutke makes it clear what employees shouldn’t be doing with AI, which is just as a key as guiding them towards what they should strive for with automation.

4. How about some good news?

• Actor Christian Bale opened a foster care village in California aimed at keeping siblings together.
• New research revealed that elephants can think before they act and resist impulses.
• Archaeologists found adult T. Rex footprints in North Dakota, marking the potential first time that adult trackways of the dinosaur have been discovered.
• Ragan Training is an excellent place for communications professionals to find inspiration and valuable resources.
• You should be rewarded for your work. Find out how to earn an award here!

Sean Devlin the senior internal communications editor at Ragan. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.