News

Microsoft To Integrate GPT-4 in Microsoft Office Software

Microsoft’s software, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word, will begin using OpenAI’s new GPT-4 artificial intelligence platform, Microsoft said. AI-powered assistants called Copilots will be able to generate whole documents, emails, and slide decks from knowledge the software has gained scanning corporate files and listening to conference calls. 

Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in an interview:

“This is the big next step for us — to put it in the tools everybody uses every day for their work. The new technology will help people create great content, great documents, great PowerPoints, art,”

The technology will debut in the coming months, and Microsoft is already testing it with 20 companies, including eight in the Fortune 500 that it declined to name.

he said, as well as do sophisticated analysis using natural language queries.

Microsoft has already been using the system in its Bing search preview for several weeks. After several reports that the included chatbot was generating freewheeling conversations that some found strange or belligerent, the company began restricting its responses.

Microsoft, which is investing more than $10 billion in OpenAI, also has released Copilot software for sales and customer applications, as well as a product from its GitHub unit for writing programming code. And its biggest rival in office software, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, announced its own plans this week to use AI tools for things like creating presentations, taking notes during meetings, and drafting emails.

“It does a lot of amazing things and gets a lot of things right, but it doesn’t get everything right,” said Jon Friedman, a Microsoft vice president who oversaw the design of the assistant. That’s why it’s key that humans have control over the process and how content is used, he said.

The software is designed to remind users to check the AI work, Friedman said. If a worker shares a bot-generated file without editing or altering it, the software makes it clear to other users that it was authored by a Copilot.

“Just like any time somebody sends me a draft — I review the draft,” Nadella said. “I just don’t accept the draft.”

The move is part of a stampede of companies adding AI chatbot features to their technology. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, has fueled much of the frenzy with its ChatGPT tool, which went viral in recent months and demonstrated the power — and potential pitfalls — of chatbot technology. The startup just unveiled GPT-4, the latest iteration of the underlying software, earlier this week.

The advantage of the new technology is its ability to handle natural language requests, Nadella said. The software includes an app called Business Chat that acts as a combination chatbot and personal assistant for office workers. Using plain English queries, it can be asked to summarize a recent meeting, find upcoming milestones for a project, list risks for a planned strategy and suggest how to mitigate those hazards.

The chatbot can then turn that risks and mitigation plan into an email and create a slideshow to present the plan. The software also has design features so the worker can ask for slides that are lighter or more fun and it will make changes. Within Word, the technology can suggest ways that the worker could rewrite documents to make them better.

The company is demonstrating the technology in a webcast event, and some customers will get access to Business Chat on Thursday inside Microsoft’s Teams conferencing software.

That presentation itself was generated using AI tools. Microsoft asked the assistant for ideas on how to design its own launch event and what sorts of demonstrations to show. The plan was good enough that the team used about 60% of the material, said Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s vice president overseeing its Modern Work and Business Applications unit.

The technology also provides transparency about where it found the information it uses, Microsoft said. When the bot creates a plan or an email, it embeds links to the relevant files so workers can see more clearly how the Copilot arrived at its conclusions. One criticism of AI chatbots has been that they serve up information that can’t be easily verified.

Another key advantage is the assistant’s ability to pull together data that are currently in different silos, Nadella said.

“I can say, ‘Oh, I’m going to meet this customer. Can you tell me the last time I met them? Can you bring up all the documents that are written up about this customer and summarize it?’” 

Read More:

 

Sponsored
Muhammad Muneeb

Muneeb is a full-time News/Tech writer at TechJuice.pk. He is a passionate follower of the IT progression of Pakistan and the world and wants to educate the people of Pakistan about tech affairs. His favorite part about being a tech writer is tech reviews and giving an honest and clear verdict to his readers. Contact Muneeb on his LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muneeb-ur-rehman-b5ab45240/

Share
Published by
Muhammad Muneeb

Recent Posts

Xiaomi’s SU7 Achieves New Production Record, Driving Q3 Growth

Xiaomi has shattered records by producing 100,000 vehicles in just 230 days. This is nearly…

1 hour ago

Teachers Can Now Access OpenAI’s Free AI Course

OpenAI, in collaboration with nonprofit organization Common Sense Media, announced on Wednesday the launch of…

2 hours ago

WhatsApp-Inspired Updates Under Testing in Google Messages

Google is exploring a revamped image-sharing interface in its Messages app, taking cues from WhatsApp…

3 hours ago

Create AI Video Backgrounds with YouTube Shorts’ Dream Screen

When it comes to online video streaming, YouTube is among the most well-known options. Every…

3 hours ago

Telecom Operators to Automatically Restore SIMs for Tax Filers

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has introduced a comprehensive mechanism for blocking and unblocking…

4 hours ago

Trump’s Influence Fuels Bitcoin to Cross $100,000

Bitcoin broke the $100,000 mark for the first time on Thursday, driven by Trump's crypto-friendly…

5 hours ago