Microsoft is reportedly drawing up plans to release its Prometheus model – of which OpenAI’s GPT large language model forms somewhat of a foundation – into even more of its Microsoft 365’s office software products.
The unnamed source has told The Verge (opens in new tab) that Prometheus could be making its way into the likes of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook within the next few weeks.
This follows the company’s recent announcement of the reimagined Bing search engine, which some claim was released earlier than planning in order to jump the queue ahead of Google’s Bard.
An AI model in the Microsoft Outlook email service could help make search more usable, while being able to handle more conversational prompts. The company’s mail app has long been criticized for its poor performance when it comes to search, especially when compared with rivals such as Gmail.
The benefits for Microsoft Word users could involve something of a writing assistance, be it spelling and grammar or a more advanced tool to help orchestrate the right tone, which could see companies like Grammarly needing to speed up development.
Elsewhere in the Microsoft suite, another AI destined for Excel has already been mentioned by some company researchers. Though it won’t be powered by the GPT model, the proprietary tech designed specifically for Excel could help less savvy users create better formulas.
While Microsoft may appear to be rolling out versions of its artificial intelligence in somewhat of a hasty manner, it has had more success than Google, which recently lost a substantial amount of market value following a Bard promo video that displayed factually incorrect information. Microsoft’s relative success and speed could give it the tools it needs to once again be the go-to environment for businesses and individuals alike.
