Microsoft to add ChatGPT AI to Office and Bing, according to reports

What you need to know

• Microsoft will add the AI tool ChatGPT to the Office suite of applications, according to a recent report.
• ChatGPT integration would allow users to generate texts using prompts.
• A separate report claimed that ChatGPT would be integrated into Microsoft’s Bing search engine to generate responses to queries.

Microsoft has big plans for artificial intelligence features in several of its apps and services, according to recent reports. The Information (opens in new tab) shared that Microsoft will incorporate ChatGPT into the Office suite to allow people to generate text. A separate report by the same outlet stated that Microsoft would integrate ChatGPT into Bing (opens in new tab) to generate responses to queries.

Microsoft announced a partnership back in 2019 with OpenAI that saw the Redmond-based tech giant invest $1 billion into OpenAI. The partnership also included an agreement to use Microsoft’s Azure AI supercomputing infrastructure to train GPT-3.5, which powers the now-famous ChatGPT chatbot. It appears the after a few years of partnership, Microsoft is ready to see a return of investment.

According to The Information, Microsoft Office will have users follow prompts to generate text through artificial intelligence. This is somewhat similar to functionality that Office already has, though presumably the OpenAI-back feature would be more powerful than what’s currently available.

The report states that Microsoft engineers and researchers have worked on AI tools for creating emails and documents for over a year. An important element of the feature would be privacy. The Information explains that Microsoft is working to ensure that customer data does not leak through the tool.

AI has dominated the headlines in the tech world in recent months. The ChatGPT chatbot has inspired awe and drawn criticism. The AI tool was used to create a children’s book, which led to accusations of plagiarism. Microsoft’s newly announced VALL-E, which can generate a person’s voice, has also drawn security concerns.

While AI is powerful and will play a role in many apps going forward, Microsoft may have to take its time to ensure that it is used properly.