{"id":26594,"date":"2023-03-16T22:02:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T22:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/"},"modified":"2023-03-16T22:02:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T22:02:26","slug":"microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/<\/a><\/br>
\nMicrosoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features<\/br>
\n2023-03-16 22:02:20<\/br><\/p>\n

\n

During an AI-focused press event today, Microsoft unveiled<\/a> Microsoft 365 Copilot, its latest push to embed its suite of productivity and enterprise apps with AI. Currently in testing with select (around 20) commercial customers, Copilot combines the power of AI models including OpenAI\u2019s recently announced GPT-4<\/a> with business data and Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing, which will fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth,\u201d Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. \u201cWith our new copilot for work, we\u2019re giving people more agency and making technology more accessible through the most universal interface \u2014 natural language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copilot handles different tasks depending on the app in which it\u2019s used. For example, in Word, Copilot writes, edits, summarizes and generates text, while in PowerPoint and Excel, Copilot turns natural language commands into designed presentations and data visualizations.<\/p>\n

Copilot in Excel can also reveal correlations, propose what-if scenarios and suggest new formulas based on users\u2019 questions, Microsoft says \u2014 generating models based on these questions. And in Word, Copilot can suggest tones (including \u201cprofessional,\u201d \u201cpassionate,\u201d \u201ccasual\u201d and \u201cthankful\u201d) while providing suggestions that attempt to strengthen arguments or address inconsistencies.<\/p>\n

\"Microsoft<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Microsoft<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The PowerPoint capabilities are particularly nifty. Using Copilot, users can create a presentation based on a Word document, complete with a slick deck, speaker notes and source citations. They can then refine that deck by asking Copilot to, for instance, \u201cadd animations to this slide\u201d or \u201capply a modern style to the presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Outlook, Copilot can help synthesize and manage inboxes as well as draft responses with toggles to adapt the length or tone. (It\u2019ll recognize a prompt such as \u201cDraft a response thanking them, and asking for more details about their second and third points; shorten this draft and make the tone professional\u201d). Meanwhile, in Teams, Copilot provides real-time summaries and action items, like identifying people for follow-ups and creating meeting agendas, in the context of conversations.<\/p>\n

One of the more intriguing elements of Copilot is Business Chat, which brings together data from across documents, presentations, email, calendar, notes and contacts to help summarize chats, write emails, find key dates or even write a plan based on other project files. With prompts like \u201ctell my team how we updated the product strategy,\u201d Business Chat \u2014 coming first to Teams \u2014 will generate a status update based on the morning\u2019s meetings, emails and chat threads.<\/p>\n

\"Microsoft<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Microsoft<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a blog post, Microsoft stressed that the models driving Copilot\u2019s aren\u2019t trained on customer content or on individual prompts.\u00a0Specifics on pricing and licensing will be shared soon, it said.<\/p>\n

AI is notoriously error-prone \u2014 even cutting-edge models like GPT-4<\/a> make boneheaded mistakes. So what about Copilot? Microsoft doesn\u2019t deny that it can get things wrong. But in the same breath, the company highlights the \u201cgrounding\u201d that Copilot uses to improve the quality of the prompts it\u2019s given.<\/p>\n

In a live presentation today, Microsoft 365 head Jared Spataro explained that prompts fed to Copilot are first filtered through the Microsoft Graph, Microsoft\u2019s unified data API, for additional context. These modified prompts are then sent to GPT-4, and the responses are filtered back through the Microsoft Graph for safety, security and compliance checks and then sent back to Microsoft 365 apps.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes Copilot will get it right, other times it will be usefully wrong, giving you an idea that\u2019s not perfect but still gives you a head start,\u201d Spataro said. \u201cWe make it clear how the system makes decisions by noting limitations, linking to sources, and prompting users to review, fact-check and adjust content based on subject-matter expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Microsoft<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Microsoft<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s hard to take Spataro at his word, considering Microsoft recently laid off<\/a> a major ethics team within its AI organization. The team had been working to identify risks posed by Microsoft\u2019s adoption of OpenAI\u2019s language models throughout its software and services. But in the presentation, Spataro said that Copilot\u2019s launch was in the interest of serving the \u201cunmet needs\u201d of Microsoft customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must move quickly and responsibly, learning as we go,\u201d Spataro added. \u201cWe\u2019re testing Copilot with a small group of customers [including 8 Fortune 500 enterprises] to get feedback and improve our models as we scale, and we will expand to more soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

These aren\u2019t new concepts, in any case. A cursory Google search will pull up dozens of AI-powered tools that offer writing recommendations<\/a>; generate emails<\/a>, text<\/a> and slide decks<\/a>; summarize meetings<\/a> and more along the lines of what Copilot can accomplish. But Microsoft\u2019s making the case that Copilot can do it better \u2014 and more safely. That remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\"Microsoft<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Microsoft<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Copilot in Microsoft 365 follows the rollout of Copilot in Dynamics 365<\/a>, Microsoft\u2019s portfolio of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management tools, and it\u2019s strong evidence that the company isn\u2019t slowing down its investments in AI and automation. It was just in January that Microsoft invested billions more<\/a> in OpenAI, the startup developing the technologies behind the various incarnations of Copilot, and the tech giant is evidently eager to see returns on investment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also trying to stay a step ahead of rival Google, which this week announced<\/a> a sweeping update to Workspace, its collection of productivity and collaboration tools, that\u2019ll bring generative AI to virtually every part of the suite.<\/p>\n

Both Microsoft and Google\u2019s rollouts feel decidedly rushed. As with Copilot, the new AI-powered Workspace features will only be available to \u201ctrusted testers\u201d at launch, Google said in its announcement, and have yet to be priced.<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s aggressive approach has had consequences. According<\/a> to a report in The Information yesterday, the company is facing an internal shortage of the server hardware needed to run its AI \u2014 namely GPUs. (Relatedly, OpenAI revealed yesterday that it worked with Microsoft to build a \u201csupercomputer\u201d in Azure to develop GPT-4.) Microsoft has reportedly been forced to ration access to the hardware for some internal teams building other AI tools to ensure it has enough capacity to handle both Bing\u2019s new GPT-4 powered chatbot<\/a> and the upcoming, newly-announced Microsoft 365 Copilot tools.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

Science, Tech, Technology<\/br>
\n<\/br>
\nSource:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/ Microsoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features 2023-03-16 22:02:20 During an AI-focused press event today, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft 365 Copilot, its latest push to embed its suite of productivity and enterprise apps with AI. Currently in testing with select (around 20) commercial customers, Copilot combines the power of AI models including OpenAI\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-tech","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nMicrosoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Microsoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/ Microsoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features 2023-03-16 22:02:20 During an AI-focused press event today, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft 365 Copilot, its latest push to embed its suite of productivity and enterprise apps with AI. Currently in testing with select (around 20) commercial customers, Copilot combines the power of AI models including OpenAI\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-16T22:02:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-16T22:02:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features_641391ecd6740.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/03\/16\/microsoft-365-gets-a-host-of-new-ai-powered-features\/\",\"name\":\"Microsoft 365 gets a host of new AI-powered features - 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