Source URL: https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/09/copilot_vs_notebooklm/
Source: The Register
Title: Copilot’s crudeness has left Microsoft chasing Google, again
Feedly Summary: Surely Redmond knows that almost nobody has tamed unstructured data?
Opinion A year ago it looked as if the world could be Microsoft’s oyster. The software giant dominated the enterprise, was catching up to cloudy rivals, and then managed to purchase forty-nine percent of the for-profit subsidiary of ChatGPT creator OpenAI.…
AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: The text discusses Microsoft’s challenges and shortcomings in deploying its AI integrations, particularly the Microsoft 365 Copilot, within enterprise environments. It highlights the struggle between Microsoft’s AI offerings and Google’s emerging solutions, especially in the context of data classification and corporate documentation management.
Detailed Description:
The excerpt analyzes Microsoft’s AI strategy, focusing on its integration into Microsoft 365 and the challenges faced:
– **Microsoft’s AI Strategy**:
– A year ago, Microsoft appeared well-positioned due to its investment in OpenAI and the integration of AI into its products such as Bing and Microsoft 365.
– Recent developments indicate struggles to effectively compete with Google’s offerings.
– **Copilot Integration Concerns**:
– The launch of “Copilot all the things!” resulted in skepticism about the effectiveness of these integrations in real enterprise scenarios.
– Enterprises are hesitant to adopt the Copilot features due to questions about their return on investment (ROI) and practical effectiveness.
– **User Adoption and ROI**:
– Many users find AI writing features (in Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint) underwhelming, leading to low adoption rates.
– Excel’s Copilot struggles to integrate functionality effectively within spreadsheet contexts, showcasing a limitation of current AI capabilities.
– **Innovation with SpreadsheetLLM**:
– Microsoft Research is working on an AI project that aims to better integrate AI capabilities with Excel, although widespread improvements seem distant.
– **Successes and Concerns with Teams**:
– Microsoft Teams is viewed positively due to its utility for remote work, aided by Copilot’s features.
– Concerns arise around privacy and security, particularly with meeting transcripts being stored potentially leading to legal issues.
– **Data Access and Trust Issues**:
– For Copilot to function effectively, enterprises need to trust cloud storage solutions like OneDrive/SharePoint with sensitive documents – an expectation many are uncomfortable with.
– The text highlights the ongoing issues with data classification and sharing within enterprises, impeding the adoption of advanced AI features.
– **Google’s Potential Edge**:
– Google’s emerging solution, NotebookLM, is presented as a promising tool for data management, showing potential advantages in querying documents and delivering insights effectively.
– This positions Google favorably in the quest for creating advanced search tools tailored for AI-driven data interaction.
Overall, the text underscores the need for enterprises to enhance their data practices if they are to benefit from AI capabilities, alongside reflecting on the shifting competitive landscape between Microsoft and Google in the realm of enterprise AI solutions, particularly around security, data management, and compliance considerations.