Microsoft to Preview AI Features Inspired by ChatGPT for Word, PowerPoint and Outlook: Report

Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook could soon be updated with support for AI features that are claimed to improve their functionality, according to a report. The Redmond company is said to have worked on integrating ChatGPT-like AI capabilities with its Office productivity apps for word processing, presentations and email management. Microsoft has already begun beta testing its AI model that is based on technology from Open AI, thanks to the company’s investments in the artificial intelligence firm.

According to a report by The Verge citing sources familiar with the company’s plans, Microsoft will soon show off the integration of its Prometheus Model along with OpenAI’s advanced technology. While the report does not mention a date, the company is said to be preparing to preview the technology on productivity apps Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook in the coming weeks.

A screenshot of the AI tool in a Microsoft Word Online sidebar
Photo Credit: Microsoft (via The Verge)

A screenshot shared by The Verge shows a Compose tab that allows you to provide a prompt at the top with a topic, then set options like Tone (Professional, Casual, Enthusiastic, Informational, Funny), Formats (Paragraph, Email, Blog Post, Ideas) and Length (Short, Medium, Long). The image also shows a Generate draft button on the sidebar that is expected to generate text based on the options that were selected.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it would integrate ChatGPT-like AI capabilities with its Bing search engine, as the Redmond company works to compete with search leader Google. At the time, a Microsoft executive told the Associated Press that the search engine’s new AI capabilities would be “faster, more accurate, more powerful than ChatGPT” and that it would be built with technology from the San Francisco startup, optimised for making searches online.

Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI began over three years ago, when the former poured in $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,400 crore) to develop a supercomputer capable of training OpenAI’s machine learning models that relies on data from digital versions of books, news articles, blog posts and other publicly available information that can be scraped online.