On April 27 and May 2, Voices for Innovation hosted two timely webinars for our members, “The Evolution and Promise of AI: Demo and Discussion.” (Missed the webinar? Sign up for VFI’s weekly Executive Briefing to receive future webinar invitations.)
At each webinar session, John Sampson, Microsoft Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, provided an in-depth demo of Bing with AI—the new search tool that integrates OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology.
John underscored that the new Bing is a “copilot” for users—and that Microsoft employs this term frequently to describe its AI-powered products. “You are the pilot,” said John—and must still evaluate the information and content provided by AI tools.
John also demonstrated lesser-known capabilities in Bing with AI, such as how it can generate tables from complex prompts. He also discussed how AI will be integrated into other Microsoft 365 products, such as Excel and PowerPoint.
The webinar also included a discussion of Microsoft’s commitment to seeing that AI is implemented safely and responsibly. As John put it, “Microsoft does not want to be the leader in AI. We aim to be the leader in responsible AI.” He highlighted several steps that Microsoft is taking to earn trust in its AI-powered technologies. Bing with AI, for instance, provides footnotes so that users can backtrack and check sources.
During the Q&A, one webinar participant asked about what action Congress is taking around AI. John said, “Congress is still in information-collection mode. We know this is an area that’s ripe for focus for policymakers. They want to address concerns without inhibiting AI’s ability to do good.”
Voices for Innovation will continue to provide our community with updates about AI innovations and policy discussions. If you want to be sure to receive invitations to future VFI webinars, please sign up to receive our weekly Executive Briefing.
