第1775期:Microsoft’s Copilot to Compete with Google in Business Software

Microsoft announced its plan to add artificial intelligence (AI) into its line of office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook last week. The announcement came a day after Google released its own AI tools to be used with Gmail, Google Docs and other products to developers and selected businesses. Called "Copilot", Microsoft’s AI tools will offer writing and input suggestions in these applications. Microsoft said it will speed up content creation and free up workers' time. Copilot will be available for testing by around 20 companies.

微软上周宣布计划将人工智能 (AI) 添加到其办公产品系列中，包括 Word、Excel、PowerPoint 和 Outlook。这一消息是在谷歌向开发人员和选定企业发布自己的人工智能工具后发布的，该工具可与 Gmail、谷歌文档和其他产品一起使用。称为“Copilot”的微软人工智能工具将在这些应用程序中提供书写和输入建议。微软表示将加快内容创作速度，解放员工的时间。 Copilot 将可供大约 20 家公司进行测试。

While Alphabet-owned Google is making progress in AI, Microsoft's early investments in OpenAI have set it apart from its competitors. OpenAI is the creator of ChatGPT which learns from past information to quickly produce human-like writings. Just last week, OpenAI started to release a more powerful version known as GPT-4. The new version, along with the older GPT-3.5, are part of Copilot features, Microsoft said. Rishi Jaluria is a researcher with the Canadian company RBC. He said the new capabilities, offered through Microsoft's cloud service, are set to increase its business and growth. Jaluria predicts Copilot will "drive more usage of Microsoft Office and increase the separation versus competitors".

虽然 Alphabet 旗下的谷歌在人工智能方面取得了进展，但微软对 OpenAI 的早期投资使其在竞争对手中脱颖而出。 OpenAI 是 ChatGPT 的创建者，它从过去的信息中学习以快速生成类似人类的作品。就在上周，OpenAI 开始发布一个更强大的版本，称为 GPT-4。微软表示，新版本以及旧版 GPT-3.5 是 Copilot 功能的一部分。 Rishi Jaluria 是加拿大 RBC 公司的研究员。他说，通过微软的云服务提供的新功能将增加其业务和增长。 Jaluria 预测 Copilot 将“推动 Microsoft Office 的更多使用，并增加与竞争对手的差距”。

One of the big updates was in the electronic document, or spreadsheet, program Excel. Microsoft said anyone can describe a calculation they would like in plain text and its AI program would create a spreadsheet. The task often requires the knowledge of trained analysts. Jon Friedman, a Microsoft vice president, spoke with Reuters. He said Microsoft's new "business chat" experience is the biggest development last week. He said it can handle tasks across several business programs. For example, a user can ask, "Tell my team how we updated the product strategy," and the AI will use information from a morning's worth of emails, meetings, and chat records.

其中一项重大更新是电子文档或电子表格程序 Excel。微软表示，任何人都可以用纯文本描述他们想要的计算，其人工智能程序会创建一个电子表格。该任务通常需要训练有素的分析师的知识。微软副总裁乔恩·弗里德曼 (Jon Friedman) 接受了路透社的采访。他表示，微软新的“商务聊天”体验是上周最大的发展。他说它可以处理跨多个业务程序的任务。例如，用户可以问“告诉我的团队我们如何更新产品策略”，AI 将使用一个上午的电子邮件、会议和聊天记录中的信息。

Making the technology as good as possible and ensuring that its answers are factual are key concerns for Microsoft. Friedman said that is why Copilot is being tested with just some customers before a wider release. An "amazing thing about large language models is they're very confident, and they get things wrong," Friedman said. Friedman said the long-term plan for Microsoft is to develop a more personalized AI experience. "We often make people adapt to the machines and systems we have built," Friedman said. "This is a thing that will start to adapt to you."

使技术尽可能好并确保其答案是真实的是 Microsoft 的主要关注点。弗里德曼说，这就是为什么 Copilot 在更广泛的发布之前只与一些客户进行测试的原因。 “大型语言模型的一个惊人之处在于它们非常自信，而且它们会出错，”弗里德曼说。弗里德曼表示，微软的长期计划是开发更加个性化的人工智能体验。 “我们经常让人们适应我们建造的机器和系统，”弗里德曼说。 “这是一个会开始适应你的东西。”