Microsoft reinvents office apps with Artificial Intelligence tools

Washington [US]: Microsoft is reinventing its Power Platform's software development, including Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Word, with AI-powered no-code development and adding new features like Copilot.

In an event on Thursday (Local Time), the company announced that Microsoft 365 users will soon be able to use what the company is calling an AI "Co-pilot," Microsoft said in a statement.

"Makers now have a live in-studio copilot that helps them build solutions and provides suggestions for improvement. To build an app, flow, or bot, you can describe it using natural language and the copilot can build it in seconds. It is that easy," the statement read.

"Copilot in Power Apps makes it easy to keep data at the centre of every application. Describe your application's purpose and a data table is automatically generated for your app. Using Copilot, makers can then leverage natural language to refine the app to suit their needs. Now, everyone can build an app, and professional developers can also save more time, by focusing on more complex code, components, and integrations. Learn more about Copilot in Power Apps," it added.

Microsoft Power Platform said it has empowered all developers with AI-powered development experiences since 2021.

Power Apps was one of the first products to use GPT in a commercial capacity, and express design in Power Apps has enabled makers to automatically turn their drawings, images and Figma documents into app user interfaces (UIs). This union of AI and low code revolutionizes the way solutions are built and fundamentally transforms the way people work, collaborate, and create.

In addition to Copilot, and the recent create text with the GPT model feature in AI Builder and conversation boosters in Power Virtual Agents announcements, Microsoft is also announcing another set of AI-powered capabilities across the Microsoft Power Platform.

This includes streamlining the user experience with embedded GPT-enabled chatbots in Power Apps, that provide an in-app assistant. It also includes GPT-enabled data exploration in Power Apps, which enables end users to intelligently query their data for immediate and actionable insights.

Microsoft's announcement comes a month after it brought similar AI-powered features to Bing and amid a renewed arms race in the tech industry to develop and deploy AI tools that can change how people work, shop and create. Earlier this week, rival Google announced it is also bringing AI to its productivity tools, including Gmail, Sheets and Docs, CNN reported.

The news also comes two days after OpenAI, the company behind Microsoft's artificial intelligence technology and the creator of ChatGPT, unveiled its next-generation model, GPT-4. The update has stunned many users in early tests and a company demo with its ability to draft lawsuits, pass standardized exams and build a working website from a hand-drawn sketch, according to CNN.