Microsoft recently unveiled several new AI-powered innovations to enhance search technology and boost workplace productivity.
Key announcements include:
- Visual Search in Bing Chat
- Bing Chat Enterprise
- Microsoft 365 Copilot
While the developments promise more intuitive search and data experiences, they signal a shift toward a future where AI becomes further embedded into everyday tools.
This article explores these key announcements and their implications.
Visual Search in Chat: A New Frontier in Search Technology
Launching Visual Search in Chat is likely the most innovative advancement for the SEO industry.
This new feature, enabled by OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, lets users upload images and find related web content.
It marks an evolution in chatbot technology, going beyond text prompts to include visual inputs. The outcome is a more intuitive and capable search platform.
Further, visual search in Bing Chat has promising potential to increase accessibility. It can make looking for information more straightforward for people with limited ability to type search terms.
Bing Chat Enterprise: AI-Powered Chat for an Enhanced Search Experience
Microsoft is expanding Bing Chat with a new enterprise version called Bing Chat Enterprise.
This will provide businesses with AI chat functionality tailored for the workplace while protecting sensitive corporate data.
Microsoft’s research shows that most employees want to hand off as much work as possible to AI. However, consumer AI tools need more data protection for business use cases.
Bing Chat Enterprise aims to solve this problem by offering AI chat services with strong commercial data safeguards, keeping user and business data secure.
Bing Chat Enterprise is rolling out in preview starting today at no extra cost for Microsoft 365 business customers.
Microsoft said it will be available for $5 per monthly user as a standalone offering.
Microsoft states in an announcement:
“Bing Chat Enterprise gives your organization AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection. User and business data are protected and will not leak outside the organization.”
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Harnessing AI for Optimal Business Data Management
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an advanced AI system that can analyze a business’s data together.
It’s integrated into numerous popular Microsoft applications. It can assist by boosting creativity in Word, improving data analysis in Excel, enhancing presentation design in PowerPoint, and providing additional functionality across other tools.
Rather than organizing and reporting on data, Microsoft 365 Copilot reasons over it to convert raw information into actionable recommendations and strategies.
By looking at disparate data sources, the tool can speed up drawing connections and generating insights.
Microsoft 365 Copilot will be available to commercial customers for $30 per user per month. It will use the same security, privacy, identity, and compliance rules in Microsoft 365.
The Future of AI in Search and Productivity
Microsoft’s recent AI announcements highlight the increasing role of AI in transforming search technology and enhancing workplace productivity.
As Microsoft continues to develop its AI capabilities, people and businesses should thoughtfully consider both the benefits and potential risks of embedding AI more extensively into their work and lives.
Featured Image: AdriaVidal/Shutterstock
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