The latest AI technology, ChatGpt is taking the world by storm. It is able to write and produce essays and complicated articles when given simple instructions. The excitement the ChatCPT has created is literally off the charts.
At the forefront of this new and exciting technological innovation stands Microsoft who are very much hoping that they can monetize this new technology which would mean more than bringing in that Intertops casino bonus!
Just recently Microsoft announced that it was allocated billions of dollars into OpenAI. Everyone is excited by the chatbot which has shown it can respond to complicated questions, produce essays and even write poetry in just a few minutes.
The future is AI
For Microsoft the challenge is to turn this AI into a profitable business venture. Last month Microsoft kicked off by proposing that any company could apply to use the technology via its platform, Azure cloud-computing. Satya Nadella, Chief Executive announced “The age of AI is upon us, and Microsoft is powering it.”
Generative AI are those that can work when they get standard language prompts and are then able to produce unique pieces of work. Up till now these have been used basically for fun. But since ChatGPT was introduced in November, literally millions of people have been looking into the new technology. Dall-E 2 is another OpenAI sensation, image-generating technology, which has also captured the imagination of thousands of users.
Early days for ChatGPT
ChatGPT is still in its early stages and there are still problems that need ironing out. According to AI researchers running costs are high and it is not fast. Another problem, they say, is that sometimes the responses are not correct or are actually fictional. According to Gary Marcus, founder of Geometric Intelligence, the problems concerning incorrect information will likely continue even as new updated versions of GPT get released. He says “This particular tech will not solve those problems, so what can you do with these systems that aren’t truthful?”
Sam Altman the chief executive officer of OpenAI has said that there are problems with the technology and that there is room for improvement. Last month he tweeted “it’s a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now. It’s a preview of progress; we have lots of work to do on robustness and truthfulness”.
However, according to Satya Nadell the problems are not insoluble. “This is not new to just AI, it’s true in any other category of software today.”
GitHub Copilot was released by Microsoft last year. GitHub Copilot uses OpenAI tools to assist programmers when writing and fixing computer code and in fact when used it produces 40% of the code. Many programmers now swear by it.
It shows clearly how it can be incredibly helpful when linked with professionals for specific tasks. Many AI users believe that because the technology is advancing so rapidly, any problems can be ironed out fairly quickly. This is the view of Ben Firshman, co-founder of Replicate, the AI infrastructure startup when he says “The rate of change going on – I have not seen anything progress as fast as this ever.”
Satya Nadella speaks of it as the “next disruptive advancement in the tech industry.” He is interested in introducing OpenAI innovations into all of Microsoft’s products, and has already begun, for instance with Bing search engine. Some experts are even suggesting that AI-powered searches might assist Bing search engine in grabbing some of the market share, 90% of which is currently in the hands of Google.
Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into this new venture. Rishi Jaluria, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets says “If it makes Microsoft a competitive search engine, then we’re looking at a different business.” Google, who pioneered much of the generative AI, but didn’t make the tools widely available, have fallen behind and are now having to up their game.
Azure cloud-computing is where Microsoft will see the main immediate benefit. According to Nadella “The way Microsoft is going to really commercialize all of this is Azure.” It, “has become the place for anybody and everybody who thinks about AI.” It is the best platform suitable for using generative AI.
Other companies are developing AI tools, for instance Meta Platforms Inc and Salesforce Inc. and there are others also exploring OpenAIs technology. According to Microsoft, since offering the technology for wider use, some 200 customers have signed up.
For example, a company making speech-coaching software in Seattle, Yoodli, was one of the first to adopt it. In fact, they use GPT-3 which was ChatGPT’s predecessor. Their CEO, Varun Puri reports that they added OpenAI’s generative AI to their company’s programs making it more improved. “Our idea was always an AI powered speech coach. We were going to do it largely on our own data set. But generative AI has 100xed that.”
GPT-3 was introduced in 2020, albeit in a limited way but the technology has been used by startups. And it has been useful and at the same time caused problems. It can produce inaccurate results which is worrying. Because of this, the technology has been promoted as an “assistant for professionals.”
For instance, Lexion uses GPT-3 in producing legal documents. However, they use the technology as a way of assisting lawyers and not instead of using one. “The software generates contractual language that is sometimes wrong, an unacceptable glitch that means it has to be cross-checked.” Lexion’s CEO, Gaurav Oberoi says “We don’t have a good explanation or understanding of why it produced an output or how it p
