Microsoft Word is getting an AI-powered editor that can recommend when users might want to make their writing more grammatically and politically correct.
The tool, called Ideas in Word, uses machine learning and Microsoft’s Graph developer platform to make suggestions when it senses users might want to ‘refine their writing.’
Ideas in Word, which is slated to launch this fall, was unveiled this week at Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference in Seattle.
A video preview of the tool shows how it works. Users will see a tab in the Microsoft Word toolbar called ‘Ideas,’ where its AI systems might suggest users make improvements to their writing.
It might suggest that users make improvements around clarity, conciseness, formality, inclusiveness, punctuation conventions, sensitive geopolitical references and vocabulary.
For example, Microsoft said its machine learning algorithms might suggest that users replace the word ‘policeman’ with ‘police officer,’ in an effort to be more inclusive.
Another example might involve its AI suggesting users write ‘person with a disability’ instead of ‘disabled person.’
For now, it’ll launch solely for users of Word Online, the cloud-based version of Microsoft’s word processing software.
A video preview shows how the tool works. Users will see a tab in the Microsoft Word toolbar called ‘Ideas,’ where its AI systems might suggest users make improvements to their writing
‘Writing requires a dash of uniquely human creativity,’ Microsoft wrote in a blog post.
‘Artificial intelligence alone cannot do it for us, at least not very well. But AI can – and already is – helping us do things like make sure we spell words correctly and use correct grammar.
‘As the AI in these products is becoming more sophisticated, they are helping us do more than spot a misspelled word,’ the company added.
Additionally, the tool will help users make their documents more navigable by suggesting tables that might be easier to read.
The Ideas tab can also show the key points from a document, as well as explain acronyms.
It can even give users an approximation of how long it takes to read their document, should they be using it during a timed presentation at the office or in class.
Microsoft isn’t the only tech firm using AI to help users improve their writing.
Google in February launched a tool for Google Docs that uses ‘machine translation techniques’ to catch grammatical errors that users might otherwise miss.
HOW DOES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LEARN?
AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn.
ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information – including speech, text data, or visual images – and are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years.
Conventional AI uses input to ‘teach’ an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information.
Practical applications include Google’s language translation services, Facebook’s facial recognition software and Snapchat’s image altering live filters.
The process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming, and is limited to one type of knowledge.
A new breed of ANNs called Adversarial Neural Networks pits the wits of two AI bots against each other, which allows them to learn from each other.
This approach is designed to speed up the process of learning, as well as refining the output created by AI systems.
Source: Dailymail
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