Will ChatGPT soon be integrated into Microsoft 365 suite?
ChatGPT, the AI chatbot of American company OpenAI, continues to be in the spotlight in the beginning of 2023. According to the tech website The Information, Microsoft is now experimenting with the technology of ChatGPT for its applications in its office suite, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook messaging. For over a year, Microsoft engineers and researchers have been working on creating customized AI tools for writing emails and documents by applying OpenAI’s machine learning models to customers’ private data, according to The Information.
Why use ChatGPT on Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook?
On Word or PowerPoint, ChatGPT could suggest text modifications to help the user write. The AI technology could also summarize long documents to highlight key points and make it easier for readers to understand. On Outlook, more advanced suggestions for email responses could be generated. As with Word and PowerPoint, ChatGPT could also be used to summarize an email exchange on the messaging platform. Microsoft aims to allow its users to gain productivity through AI-suggested text. In parallel, it would also allow the tech giant to strengthen its position as a leader in the field of office software, on condition that AI technology doesn’t cause too many errors for users, hence the importance of the experimentation phase currently conducted by the American firm.
In fact, the integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Microsoft’s Bing search engine could be considered as a new era of search engines powered by AI. By integrating the chatbot, Bing would be able to provide more natural and detailed responses to user inquiries, instead of simply directing them to a list of related links. The ultimate goal of this integration is to enhance the user experience by providing more relevant and informative responses.
Microsoft is focusing on OpenAI technology
Besides improving the user experience. Integrating ChatGPT into Bing could give a new lease of life to the search engine. In fact, Microsoft would benefit from a significant competitive advantage and would be able to better compete with Google’s Knowledge Graph and enhanced results. It’s worth noting that in December 2022, Google held 92.58% market share with its search engine, compared to 3.03% for Bing (Source: StatCounter).
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Market Share
So, speculation or future reality?
While Microsoft has not spoken to confirm or deny the rumors, there are some clues that the Bing-ChatGPT duo could indeed see the light of day. Microsoft invested 1 billion dollars in OpenAI in 2019, in exchange for a partnership and an exclusive license to benefit from GPT-3 technology and its developments (the technology on which ChatGPT is based). Moreover, Microsoft has already integrated DALL-E, another AI tool from OpenAI, into its search engine with Image Creator. Finally, Microsoft has also recently launched Designer, a new application integrated into its Microsoft 365 suite that also includes DALL-E to help users create original graphic designs.
According to reports, Microsoft is negotiating an agreement with OpenAI where it would collect 75% of the profits generated by the company until it recoups its initial investment. OpenAI currently offers paid access to some of its software, such as the image generator DALL-E. Monetizing ChatGPT would be a logical progression for OpenAI. ChatGPT is becoming day by day a popular technology, but it has come at a cost for its creator OpenAI, as the company is believed to be spending millions of dollars each month to keep the chatbot available for free use. Given this financial burden, it makes sense that OpenAI looks to secure billions in funding from its partners. The company is experimenting with many ways to monetize its software.