News from the AI & ML world
DeeperML - #productivity
|
@betakit.com
//
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke has mandated that employees must now justify why AI cannot perform a task before requesting additional resources or new hires. This directive, outlined in an internal memo, signifies a pivotal shift toward integrating AI into every facet of the company’s operations. Lütke emphasizes that using AI effectively is now a "fundamental expectation" for all Shopify employees, viewing it as an essential skill that will only grow in importance. The memo encourages a "reflexive AI usage strategy," urging employees to explore how AI can enhance their workflows and boost productivity.
The new policy includes specific requirements for new projects, particularly during the prototyping phase. Shopify expects AI exploration to "dominate" the prototyping process. Furthermore, the company will incorporate AI usage questions into performance and peer review questionnaires. Teams must demonstrate why they cannot accomplish their goals using AI before seeking more headcount or resources. Lütke believes that AI has the potential to increase productivity exponentially, potentially achieving "100X the work done." Lütke's memo serves as an inspiration for other workplaces to consider integrating AI. He highlights the transformational qualities of AI as a productivity multiplier and encourages employees to "tinker" with AI to discover its full potential. The Shopify CEO also expressed in the memo that some employees had shown an improvement of "10X" what was previously thought possible, and the hope is that AI tools can now provide "10X" themselves. The changes mark a bold step toward an AI-native future for Shopify and a potential blueprint for businesses worldwide. Recommended read:
References :
lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance@techradar.com
//
Microsoft has unveiled a significant overhaul of its Copilot AI assistant, introducing new features designed to enhance its capabilities and transform it into a personalized AI companion. This marks a pivotal moment as Microsoft aims to make AI more accessible and beneficial for everyday life. The updates include improvements to memory, allowing Copilot to remember user preferences and details such as favorite foods, movies, and important dates. This personalization enables Copilot to offer customized solutions, proactive suggestions, and timely reminders, making it more intuitive and responsive to individual needs.
The upgraded Copilot now boasts enhanced multimodal capabilities, including the ability to analyze live video from mobile devices and answer questions based on visual content. It can also perform tasks on websites, such as booking tickets, making reservations, and shopping online, streamlining various online activities. The introduction of "Pages" organizes notes and research into a cohesive workspace, while the "Deep Research" function synthesizes information from documents and images, aiding in comprehensive information gathering and analysis. These features are aimed at making Copilot a more versatile and indispensable tool for both personal and professional use. These enhancements position Microsoft's Copilot as a direct competitor to other AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. However, Microsoft has not provided detailed performance data or addressed potential limitations. User feedback has also highlighted mixed experiences with its functionality and privacy concerns regarding data tracking, suggesting that further refinement and transparency are needed. The rollout of these features and subsequent user reception will likely shape future iterations of the chatbot, as Microsoft strives to create an AI assistant that truly understands and caters to individual user needs. Recommended read:
References :
Alexey Shabanov@TestingCatalog
//
Microsoft is supercharging its Copilot assistant with new capabilities, transforming it into a companion for all. The company is equipping Copilot with new features designed to make it more responsive and helpful, including memory recall and personalization. This will allow the AI assistant to better understand and remember user preferences, complete tasks, analyze surroundings, and keep life organized. Microsoft aims to make AI work for everyone and wants Copilot to become the AI companion people want, tailored just for them.
Microsoft launched two AI reasoning agents for 365 Copilot: Researcher and Analyst. Researcher handles complex research using multiple sources, while Analyst functions as a data scientist to transform raw data into insights. These agents will roll out this month as part of a new program called "Frontier". The company is also adding new mobile and web features, personalization options, and exclusive tools for Surface devices. Recommended read:
References :
Alex Woodie@BigDATAwire
//
AI agents are poised to revolutionize day-to-day life across various industries. Enterprises are increasingly adopting these agents to automate tasks, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences. A recent Salesforce report highlights that 75% of retailers consider AI agents essential for staying competitive, underscoring the growing importance of these systems. The trend signifies a move towards more autonomous AI, capable of independent action to achieve specific goals, impacting sectors such as retail, logistics, and security.
Enterprising AI's agentic capabilities are also transforming how companies are handling fraud and maximizing returns on investment. AI tools are no longer limited to data scientists as enterprise leaders are enabling employees to use AI in new innovative ways. Browser Use, an AI startup, has recently secured $17 million in funding to further enhance the web's accessibility for AI agents, streamlining their interactions with online interfaces for faster and more precise browsing. Recommended read:
References :
Matt Marshall@AI News | VentureBeat
//
References:
AI News | VentureBeat
, Source Asia
,
Microsoft is introducing two new AI reasoning agents, Researcher and Analyst, to Microsoft 365 Copilot. These "first-of-their-kind" agents are designed to tackle complex problems by utilizing methodical thinking, offering users a more efficient workflow. The Researcher agent combines OpenAI’s deep research model with Microsoft 365 Copilot’s advanced orchestration and search capabilities to deliver insights with greater quality and accuracy, helping users perform complex, multi-step research.
Analyst, built on OpenAI’s o3-mini reasoning model, functions like a skilled data scientist and is optimized for advanced data analysis. It uses chain-of-thought reasoning to iteratively refine its analysis and provide high-quality answers, mirroring human analytical thinking. This agent can run Python to tackle complex data queries and can turn raw data scattered across spreadsheets into visualizations or revenue projections. Researcher and Analyst will be available to customers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license in April as part of a new “Frontier” program. Recommended read:
References :
Mike Wheatley@SiliconANGLE
//
Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot AI assistant with advanced reasoning and agent capabilities aimed at boosting productivity across various Microsoft 365 applications. Key updates include deep reasoning within Copilot Studio and the introduction of specialized AI agents like Researcher and Analyst, designed to tackle complex problems and provide more nuanced insights. These agents leverage advanced reasoning models, such as OpenAI's o1 and o3-mini, to perform detailed analysis, methodical thinking, and data-driven decision-making, simulating the approach of skilled professionals.
Microsoft is also integrating its Security Copilot with AI agents to automate tasks. New agents being added to Security Copilot include ones designed to sort through large volumes of security info, analyze notifications, and fix insecure user access rules. Microsoft also released a new Knowledge Base-Augmented Language Models (KBLaM) system which is a more efficient way to incorporate external knowledge into language models. All of these tools are designed to give you the help you need faster. Recommended read:
References :
Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
//
Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot Studio platform with new 'deep reasoning' capabilities, allowing AI agents to solve complex problems more effectively. This upgrade also includes 'agent flows' which blend AI's flexibility with structured business automation. The new Researcher and Analyst agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot represent a significant step forward in AI agent evolution, enabling them to handle sophisticated tasks requiring detailed analysis and methodical thinking.
Microsoft's Security Copilot service is also getting a boost with a set of AI agents designed to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up security professionals to focus on more critical threats. These AI agents are designed to assist with critical tasks such as phishing, data security, and identity management. These agents showcase the breadth of what can be created when combining enterprise business data, access to advanced reasoning models, and structured workflows. Recommended read:
References :
Ben Lorica@Gradient Flow
//
References:
Gradient Flow
, AI News | VentureBeat
AI is rapidly evolving, moving beyond simple predictions to tackle complex, structured problems. New AI agents, open models, and a focus on productivity are driving this change, with reasoning and deep research capabilities leading the way. China's Monica.ai has developed Manus, an AI agent that autonomously handles tasks like real estate research and resume analysis, demonstrating the potential of multi-agent systems.
OpenAI is also advancing agent-building tools, including the Responses API and Computer Use Tool, enabling developers to create sophisticated applications. Additionally, Google's Gemma 3 offers an open-weight language model family, providing developers with greater flexibility. These advancements signify a shift towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), where AI can genuinely reason and solve novel problems. AI's impact is also evident in content creation, with platforms like n8n enabling users to build content creator agents without coding. These agents can automate tasks and streamline workflows, boosting productivity for individuals and businesses. This reflects a broader trend of AI being used to enhance productivity across various sectors, from research to code generation and content creation. Recommended read:
References :
Richard Speed@The Register
//
Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot product with new AI-powered features, including voice chat and the integration of agents created in Microsoft Copilot Studio. Windows 11 users will soon be able to initiate voice queries instantly using a new "Press to Talk" feature. This feature allows users to summon Copilot with a simple shortcut – holding down Alt + Spacebar for two seconds – triggering a microphone to appear on the screen, enabling voice interaction with the AI assistant. The update is gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders through the Microsoft Store.
These agents, built using the Microsoft Copilot Studio agent builder, will be directly accessible within Copilot Chat. Microsoft aims to empower every employee with a Copilot and transform business processes with agents, enabling workforces from customer service to marketing to use Copilot and agents. This aims to make AI interactions more seamless and efficient. Copilot Studio usage is measured in "messages" and can be purchased through the Copilot Studio meter in Microsoft Azure. Recommended read:
References :
stclarke@Source
//
References:
Source Asia
, Microsoft Research
Microsoft is aggressively integrating AI across various platforms to enhance productivity and transform business processes. A key focus is on understanding human-AI interactions through a project called Semantic Telemetry at Microsoft Research. This project employs a novel data science approach using Large Language Models (LLMs) to analyze user behavior and classify these interactions, aiming to build and support increasingly high-value use cases for Copilot and other AI tools. This innovative approach reimagines traditional telemetry by using LLMs to generate meaningful categorical labels from chat log data, providing valuable insights into how users interact with AI systems.
The integration of Microsoft 365 Copilot is also enabling companies like Estée Lauder to reimagine trend forecasting and consumer marketing. By building a generative AI ecosystem with Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI Service, and Azure AI Search, Estée Lauder is leveraging AI to gather data, identify trends, build marketing assets, and inform research, ultimately accelerating the process of bringing beauty products to market. This transformation is part of Estée Lauder's "Beauty Reimagined" initiative, aiming for leaner, faster, and more agile operations. Recommended read:
References :
stclarke@Source
//
Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot capabilities by introducing new sales agents designed to streamline the sales process. These agents, accessible through Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, aim to help sales teams close deals faster by providing assistance with lead qualification, meeting setup, and customer outreach. The Sales Agent can autonomously work around the clock to grow the sales pipeline, even completing sales for low-impact leads by leveraging CRM data, company information, and web resources.
Estée Lauder is using the Sales Agent to reimagine trend forecasting and consumer marketing. Estée Lauder is also building a generative AI ecosystem with Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search to move product to market faster. Vodafone projects to double or triple the number of requests for proposals its sales team can respond to each week. Salesforce has also launched Agentforce 2dx, enabling AI agents to work proactively across enterprise systems without human prompting. This update allows companies to embed agentic AI into workflows, monitor data changes, and initiate processes autonomously. IT leaders at TDX 2025 discussed the impact of AI on their businesses, with some experiencing significant revenue increases with AI implementation. Recommended read:
References :
The Copilot@Microsoft Copilot Blog
//
References:
9to5Mac
, www.engadget.com
,
Microsoft has announced significant expansions and updates to its Copilot AI assistant, aiming to broaden its accessibility and utility. Key features like unlimited Voice access and the Think Deeper function are now available to all users, free of charge, in nearly every market where the Copilot app is offered. The Voice feature now supports over 40 languages, enabling hands-free interaction with the AI, while Think Deeper offers enhanced insights without usage limits, beneficial for tasks ranging from interview preparation to complex problem-solving.
Microsoft has also launched a native Copilot application for macOS, marking a notable step in making its AI accessible across different ecosystems. The macOS app, requiring macOS 14.0 or later and running on Apple's M1 chip or later, provides a dedicated platform for users to interact with Copilot, complete with keyboard shortcut support (Command + Space) for quick access. The initial rollout is focused on the US, UK, and Canada. The app allows users to upload images, generate images and text, use the shortcut launcher, dark mode, and use Think Deeper. Recommended read:
References :
|
BenchmarksBlogsResearch Tools |