The artificial intelligence (AI) war continues to pit tech giants against each other. This week, Microsoft announced several new features that are supposed to improve its Copilot assistant, which is deeply integrated into its products, at its annual Ignite 2024 conference.
According to the Redmond giant, nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies now use Microsoft 365 Copilot, reflecting a growing trend of generative AI adoption in the professional world. Microsoft highlights concrete examples, such as Eaton, which reportedly reduced the time needed to document its standard operating procedures by 83% thanks to Copilot.
Increased productivity?
Microsoft is introducing “Copilot Actions,” currently in private preview, to automate everyday tasks using simple input, such as generating meeting summaries or compiling weekly reports. New AI agents are also architect database announced, including an “Interpreter” for real-time translation during meetings, and an “Employee Self-Service Agent” to answer common questions about HR and IT policies.
In the SharePoint collaboration platform, natural language AI agents are now integrated to facilitate the search for information within sites, files and folders. Microsoft also promises an agent capable of creating meeting notes in real time in Teams and automating project management in Planner, according to this press release .
Towards a more customizable AI
To enable companies to develop their own AI solutions, Microsoft is launching Azure AI Foundry, offering a software development kit (SDK) and a portal to design, customize and manage AI applications and agents. This initiative aims to give companies more control over their AI tools, while simplifying the development process, according to the same text.
At the same time, Microsoft is strengthening its r ba leads commitments to trusted AI with new tools for assessing the risks and safety of AI-generated images. These announcements demonstrate Microsoft’s desire to remain at the forefront of AI innovation, while seeking to address growing concerns about the security and ethics of these technologies, according to Redmond’s communication.