Real-time translation is often cited as one of the most practical applications of generative artificial intelligence, and Microsoft is expected to roll out this feature for its video conferencing and team collaboration software early next year. The company also introduced several new AI features that will launch at the recent Ignite 2024 event.
One of the upcoming Copilot “AI agents” for Microsoft 365 aims to translate the speech of presenters in Microsoft Teams meetings. This functionality will begin its public preview phase in early 2025.
Supported languages include Mandarin, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish.
Users can also request the agent to mimic their voice and speaking style in the translated language. Furthermore, the new AI transcription feature in Teams supports translation into 31 languages. Another translation tool, set to launch next year, will allow Copilot to convert entire PowerPoint presentations into one of 40 languages without altering their formatting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9fguYDG6wE
Microsoft’s new enterprise Copilot agents, which are essentially customizable AI applications, were first introduced a month ago. The first wave is designed to automate certain tasks for sales and finance companies, while a new wave of these agents will be deployed to other industries from now until early 2024.
For instance, Copilot will soon be able to summarize Microsoft Teams discussions, answer participant questions, and synthesize files shared in chat. A feature launching later this month will allow Copilot to schedule one-on-one meetings by analyzing user calendars, identifying common free time, and drafting meeting agendas.
Agents have also appeared within Microsoft’s SharePoint tools. A new AI assistant can provide information about a company and its products to support customer service, train new team members, or assist in budget planning. Additionally, 365 subscriptions will be able to apply SharePoint Advanced Management at no extra cost starting from early 2025.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4mJO6F5kok
ServiceNow, Workday, Cohere, and several other companies are also preparing to release more AI agents in the coming months. Meanwhile, Copilot is expected to expand data access capabilities through partnerships with companies like S&P Global and CB Insights.
Announcements from Microsoft at Ignite 2024 show that the company is investing heavily in GenAI. However, features such as translation, summarization, and querying depend on accuracy—a long-standing challenge for AI due to well-documented hallucination issues.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has sharply criticized the initial rollout of Microsoft’s Copilot Agent, claiming that accuracy, data, and security are insufficient. Nevertheless, Salesforce is striving to compete with its Agentforce AI tools. The recent launch of Apple Intelligence has also raised questions about the accuracy of generative AI summaries, with many unintended and humorous results going viral on social media.
Microsoft asserts that restricting AI agents to only use information from user-defined datasets will ensure accuracy. The upcoming public beta versions will test that claim.
