Microsoft recently unveiled several new AI-powered innovations to improve search technology and increase 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 is more embedded in 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 probably the most innovative development for the SEO industry.
This new feature, enabled by OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, allows users to upload images and find related web content.
It marks an evolution in chatbot technology, moving beyond text prompts to include visual inputs. The result is a more intuitive and capable search platform.
Additionally, visual search in Bing Chat has promising potential to increase accessibility. It can make finding information easier 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 business version called Bing Chat Enterprise.
This will provide businesses with workplace-friendly AI chat functionality while protecting sensitive corporate data.
Microsoft research shows that most employees want to hand over 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-powered chat services with strong commercial data safeguards, keeping user and business data safe.
Bing Chat Enterprise is rolling out in preview starting today at no additional cost to Microsoft 365 business customers.
Microsoft said it will be available for $5 per user per month as a standalone offering.
Microsoft claims in an announcement:
“Bing Chat Enterprise gives your organization chat with artificial intelligence to work with business data protection. User and company data is protected and will not leak outside the organization.”
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Leveraging AI for optimal business data management
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an advanced AI system that can jointly analyze a company’s data.
It is integrated into many popular Microsoft applications. It can help by increasing creativity in Word, improving data analysis in Excel, improving presentation design in PowerPoint, and providing additional functionality to other tools.
Instead of organizing and reporting on data, Microsoft 365 Copilot reasons about it to turn raw information into actionable recommendations and strategies.
By analyzing disparate data sources, the tool can speed up drawing connections and generating insights.
Microsoft 365 Copilot will be available to business customers for $30 per user per month. It will use the same Microsoft 365 security, privacy, identity and compliance rules.
The future of AI in search and productivity
Microsoft’s recent AI announcements highlight the growing role of AI in transforming search technology and improving workplace productivity.
As Microsoft continues to develop its AI capabilities, individuals and businesses should carefully consider both the benefits and potential risks of incorporating AI more broadly into their work and lives.
Featured image: AdriaVidal/Shutterstock
