If you have not been paying attention to what’s been happening over the last 2 months with ChatGPT, the chat bot from Open AI that has taken the world by storm and opened everyone’s eyes to what’s possible with AI-based systems now and in the future, then you should lean forward and be keen.
Just days after we heard that Microsoft could be working on integrating ChatGPT into its search engine, Bing, we are hearing murmurs that Redmond is very keen on using its first mover advantage by way of being an early investor in Open AI, fully.
ChatGPT, it is being reported, could be integrated into Microsoft’s widely-used Office apps namely Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. The Information (subscription required) which revealed this, doesn’t mention Excel, but you can be sure that it is somewhere in the mix and, should this turn out to be the case, we’ll get a much clearer picture as we go along.
Microsoft is said to have been using the technology that powers ChatGPT to improve search results on Outlook, its mail app that has often come under criticism by users for its underwhelming search functionality.
That is not all. By bringing something like ChatGPT to its email app, Microsoft could open itself up to a world of endless possibilities. We are used to being able to have apps like the Google Assistant recommend automatic replies to emails on Gmail as well as other such tools built into Gmail. Now, imagine what something that can do a fair amount of research in microseconds and submit an essay that could as well have been written by a college senior or a researcher or analyst at a top firm can come up with as a response to something in your inbox?
If the future hadn’t gotten scary for you then it is about time it did. And exciting, as well. Unless you’re a college professor who will, all of a sudden, need more than a sixth sense to sniff out cheats.
