Introduction
The past year has seen significant growth and development in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), with many companies investing heavily in this technology. Microsoft is no exception, having made a major foray into AI-powered experiences with its Bing Chat platform. To coincide with a flashy Super Bowl LVIII ad campaign, Microsoft’s Copilot family of AI-powered chatbots and assistants has been upgraded with new features.
The State of AI Today
According to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, the past year has seen "many new things" learned about AI and its applications. With over 5 billion chats and 5 billion images created to date, the use of Copilot experiences has exploded. Mehdi states that this growth is a testament to the power of AI in making the promise of AI real for everyone.
The New Upgrades
In addition to the existing capabilities of Copilot, the upgraded experience now features an improved AI model called Deucalion. This fine-tuned model makes Balanced mode for @MicrosoftCopilot richer and faster, allowing users to get more out of their AI creation experiences.
The new upgrades also include a more streamlined look and feel for the Copilot experience on the web, Android, and iOS. The answers provided by Copilot now have a cleaner style, and there is a carousel of suggested prompts to feed Copilot, such as "How would you explain AI to a sixth grader?"
Designer in Copilot
Designer in Copilot is a tool that taps into generative AI models like OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 to turn prompts into images. The upgraded Copilot experience now includes new editing capabilities for this tool.
- Editing Images: All English-speaking Copilot users in the U.S., U.K., Australia, India, and New Zealand can now edit images inline within the flow of a chat. This means that users can colorize objects, blur image backgrounds, or change the style of an image (e.g., to pixel art).
- Resizing and Regenerating Images: Subscribers to Copilot Pro can resize and regenerate images between ‘square’ (i.e., portrait) and landscape.
Designer GPT
Coming soon to Copilot is Designer GPT, which will offer a more immersive, dedicated canvas inside Copilot where users can "visualize their ideas." This new feature aims to provide a more interactive experience for users who want to explore the possibilities of generative AI.
Addressing Concerns
The upgrade also addresses some concerns that have been raised about Designer in Copilot. Last month, Microsoft announced that it had made it impossible to generate celebrity images using the tool, following reports of malicious users creating deepfakes of Taylor Swift and spreading them across social media platforms.
However, as with all generative AI tools, it is likely that this cat-and-mouse game between bad actors and vendors will continue. Microsoft’s advancements in AI align with its company mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. By democratizing breakthroughs in AI through Copilot, Microsoft aims to make the promise of AI real for everyone.
Conclusion
The upgraded Copilot experience offers new features and capabilities that are designed to enhance user experiences and provide more creative possibilities with generative AI. As the field of AI continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how companies like Microsoft continue to invest in this technology and address the challenges associated with its development.
Related Articles
- VentureGenerative AI funding reached new heights in 2024: Venture capital investments in generative AI have seen significant growth in 2024. According to recent reports, these investments have exceeded expectations.
- Microsoft to spend $80 billion in FY’25 on data centers for AI: Microsoft has announced plans to invest heavily in its data center infrastructure for the coming year. This investment is part of the company’s efforts to support the growth of AI and other cloud-based services.
Sources:
- "Microsoft’s Copilot Family of AI-Powered Chatbots and Assistants Gets a Major Upgrade" by Microsoft
- "Generative AI funding reached new heights in 2024" by Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch
- "Microsoft to spend $80 billion in FY’25 on data centers for AI" by Mary Ann Azevedo, TechCrunch
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Microsoft, Copilot
