When you think of Microsoft, I bet your first thought is technology. In this industry, things are constantly changing. With that, Microsoft is continuously staying ahead with the latest inventions and one that has stood out is the use of Artificial Intelligence. Microsoft employees can now tell an artificial intelligence-powered (AI) bot how many people need to be in the conference room and at what time. The bot will then reply with ideas on the best spaces for the headcount needed and which ones are available during that time. Technology is something else, isn’t it? General Manager of Microsoft Taiwan, Ken Sun, envisions AI making its way into medical exam rooms, PowerPoint slides and other companies’ administrative offices over the next five years.
Artificial Intelligence in Tech Today
I think it’s safe to say that Artificial Intelligence technology, also known as AI, is a major leap continuing to grow in this industry. AI is also known as triggering machines to react and process information, similar to how human beings do. “It’s super exciting the way we see AI amplifying human intelligence is just amazing. It brings productivity to the work environment in ways we’ve never imagined before,” Ken Sun stated.
Currently the new trend is how AI is replacing receptionists. The personal assistants, also known as personal assistants are able to understand people’s voice commands well enough to complete simple tasks, tech news and research service. Some of these virtual assistants can do dictations, read emails, schedule events and make phone calls. A few examples of some in the mass market include Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Now, and Microsoft Cortana.
Las year, the global virtual assistant market totaled $2.3 billion and is projected to be $19.6 billion by 2025, according to Zion Market Research. In January 2018, Microsoft chose Taiwan to grow their artificial intelligence business by focusing research on enterprise software. Since last year 100 people have been recruited, with a goal of onboarding 200 more within five years to staff a $34 million Taiwan R&D Center for AI.
Instant Translation = Efficiency
Microsoft is currently looking to add the meeting room assistance technology to enterprise software. The common user of Microsoft tools may be presenting a PowerPoint presentation and come across an AI aide. Someone presenting to a multi-lingual audience will now be able to ask the aide for real-time translations in 60 different languages, then be able to add the output as text to the slides. How cool is that? A language barrier should no longer hold you back from doing business in other countries.
AI-enabled aides will now make medical exams efficient as well. Doctors will be able to check their electronic documents for keywords based on a patient’s apparent symptoms to diagnose them. For example, the aide would say “dizzy, high temperate, hives” and the doctor could reach a diagnosis that much faster. Doctors will not be replaced but will become more productive.
There are many other aspects of AI that are being developed, such as facial recognition to have users log into their devices three times faster than a password. Microsoft has also developed AI to perform computer visions, that extract information from photos. This helps farmers today lower costs and improve harvests through access to big data.
Overall, I think it’s safe to say AI powered assistants, and AI in general is changing the tech industry as we speak. Not only is this going to help consumers, but businesses as well. With AI working to help eliminate language barriers with the help of the aides, business can be more seamless than it was before. As the market for virtual assistants is only growing, businesses should be prepared to do the same.
