Generative AI: Microsoft’s Big Contribution

This marks the second entry in my three-part article series. In the preceding piece(click to read) I emphasized the importance of generative AI and how big giants have already started contributing to this industry through financial investments and innovations.?

In this article, I will specifically talk about Microsoft's huge contributions and rapid innovation in this field.?

Microsoft Partnership with OpenAI, Meta and Huggingface:?

Microsoft broadened options for its users and brought ChatGPT, LLama1, LLama2 and other opensource Large Language Models under one Azure tenant.? MS did partnership with OpenAI, Meta and huggingface which makes MS not strictly just one, OpenAI shop.?

If you want to get a basic understanding of LLMs, I have explained in below article,

Deciphering the Evolution of chatbots: A closer look at Microsoft Copilot

• Microsoft's alliance with OpenAI has been instrumental, leveraging models like GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and DALE for their Copilot and Azure OpenAI projects. Also Microsoft has been collaborating with OpenAI to develop APIs to connect with these models.?
• Simultaneously, Microsoft collaboration with Meta extends to the integration of Llama 2, enhancing Azure AI capabilities and fortifying Windows as a premier platform for AI development. Unlocked, their ability to build using world-class tools like Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Windows terminal, Microsoft Visual Studio and VS Code. The availability? with Azure AI enables developers to take advantage of Azure AI’s powerful tooling for model training, fine-tuning, inference, and particularly the capabilities that support AI safety.??
• Moreover, the affiliation with Huggingface broadens the spectrum of open-source models available in Azure Machine Learning Services and Azure AI Studio, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of choices for users.??

https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/07/18/microsoft-and-meta-expand-their-ai-partnership-with-llama-2-on-azure-and-windows/??

Below image shows the catalogue of models available from OpenAI, Meta and Huggingface in AI studio.?

Microsoft’s Copilots and Development Studios:?

Microsoft has not only integrated these advancements into their diverse range of applications but has also introduced copilots and development studios catering to a wide array of user needs. From GitHub Copilot to Microsoft 365 Copilot, and even Copilot embedded in Windows and Dynamics 365, Microsoft's innovative stride in deploying AI to enhance user experience is commendable.?

The introduction of Copilot Studio and Azure AI Studio further emphasizes Microsoft's commitment to empowering developers(both without machine learning or with machine learning knowledge) and data scientists with accessible, low-code tools and a comprehensive interface for creating custom copilots and AI applications.?

As the generative AI landscape continues to evolve, Microsoft stands at the forefront, not only providing advanced tools and copilots but also equipping users with the means to customize and deploy AI solutions with ease.?

Below are the list of copilots and studios released by MS:

Microsoft Github Copilot:

Github Copilot was the first tool to release, all the way back in 2021. GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer that offers autocomplete-style suggestions as you code. You can receive suggestions from GitHub Copilot either by starting to write the code you want to use, or by writing a natural language comment describing what you want the code to do.

https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/overview-of-github-copilot/about-github-copilot-individual??

Microsoft Copilot:

Microsoft Copilot is a chatbot developed by Microsoft. It was launched as Bing Chat on February 7, 2023, as a built-in feature for Microsoft Bing and Microsoft Edge.?

Microsoft 365 Copilot:

On March 16, 2023, Microsoft announced Microsoft 365 Copilot, designed for Microsoft 365 applications that you use every day, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and others. This integration provides real-time intelligent assistance, enabling users to enhance their creativity, productivity, and skills.?

Microsoft Windows Copilot:?

In September 2023, Microsoft released copilot for windows(in preview yet), the first PC platform with centralized AI assistance. Copilot in Windows can answer a range of questions, from simple to complex. It allows you to perform common tasks and change settings in Windows. Copilot in Windows has the ability to use the context from Microsoft Edge to enhance the response. You can ask it to summarize a webpage you're viewing. Copilot in Windows integrates with the clipboard and provides the ability to drag and drop images to provide rich interaction, allowing you to get things done faster.??

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/welcome-to-copilot-in-windows-675708af-8c16-4675-afeb-85a5a476ccb0??

Microsoft D365 Copilot:???

In July, 2023, Microsoft announced Dynamics 365 Copilot, world’s first AI copilot natively built-in to both CRM and ERP applications. powered assistance across business functions—from sales, service, and marketing to supply chain. Details about upcoming features consider this post.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/it-knocks-pty-ltd_sneak-peek-into-microsoft-dynamics-365-upcoming-activity-7140460309986656256-940i?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop??

Copilot Studio:

At Microsoft Ignite 2023, MS announced Copilot studio a low-code tool to customize Copilot for Microsoft 365 and build standalone copilots. You can customize Copilot for Micro

soft 365 with your own enterprise scenarios—build, test, and publish standalone copilots and custom GPTs and manage and secure your customizations and standalone copilots with the right access, data, user controls, and analytics. With Copilot Studio, you can connect Copilot to other data sources, including pre-built or custom plugins and GPTs, to tap into any system of record—from SAP, Workday, and ServiceNow—and even your own proprietary business solutions.??

Azure AI Studio:

Azure AI Studio is intended for AI software developers - including cloud architects and technical decision-makers who want to create generative AI applications and custom copilot experiences. Azure AI Studio / Azure OpenAI Studio is a web-based interface that allows you to interact with Azure OpenAI Service.?

Azure Machine Learning Studio:?

Azure Machine Learning studio is the top-level resource for Machine Learning. This capability provides a centralized place for data scientists and developers to work with all the artifacts for building, training, and deploying machine learning models. Easy and simple to experiment with. It cannot run complex experiments.?

Azure Machine Learning Service:?

Azure Machine Learning empowers data scientists and developers to build, deploy, and manage high-quality models faster and with confidence. It accelerates time to value with industry-leading machine learning operations (MLOps), open-source interoperability, and integrated tools. It requires machine learning skills.?

In this article I tried the key aspects of Microsoft's involvement in the generative AI space and its efforts to empower users and developers with innovative tools and AI solutions.?

In the third part of the article series, I will share a real-time scenario from ITKnocks. Specifically, I'll illustrate how we successfully developed a generative AI-based copilot bot tailored for addressing internal HR-related queries among employees. This section will offer a detailed, step-by-step guide, demonstrating the seamless and swift process of creating a standalone copilot using your data, requiring minimal to no coding expertise.?