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Word documents might write themselves and more

Microsoft is working on extending OpenAI features like ChatGPT to help people write Word documents based on a short suggestion. And there’s a lot more possible given Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, even a koala poem ‘written’ by Dorothy Parker.

Office Watch has been looking at ChatGPT’s ability to write Office VBA programming code (with mixed success) but it’s main purpose is to take a short sentence like  “Koala’s live on just eating leaves” and give back a block of text like this …

AI to make text for Microsoft Office

In an interview with The Information (paywall), Microsoft says it’s working on using AI systems to generate text within Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Imagine that embedded into Microsoft Word or Outlook to “fill” a document or email!  Doubtless there’ll be various weasel words used like “enhance” or “embellish”. Already teachers are on alert for students who use ChatGPT to write essays.

In Excel, tables of data could be inserted from a request such as “High temperatures each day of December 2020 in Atlanta”.

Microsoft is reportedly working on more personalized options, such as replies to emails based on your similar replies in the past.

Instead of a web search giving a list of links, Bing could supply some paragraphs to answer the request.

Doing all this and a lot more isn’t easy.  There are privacy issues, keeping each users requests separate from everyone else. Factual accuracy is vital but difficult to ensure, especially with so many ‘alternative facts’ on the Internet.

There’s no timeline for any of this. Smarties at Microsoft are working on this and will be for some time to come.

Koalas in the style of Dorothy Parker

Or select some text and have it reworded/rearranged automatically, perhaps even in a particular style.

I tried “What do Koalas eat, in the style of Dorothy Parker” in ChatGPT as a joke but was amazed by the automated poem it produced.

“The Koala, with leaves as its sole sustenance,
Eats and sleeps with such nonchalance.
Eucalyptus, its favored fare,
Makes up for its lack of nutrition with ample repair.
But in times of scarcity, other foliage will do,
For this sleepy marsupial, life is just a chew.”

ChatGPT’s response to “What do Koalas eat, in the style of Dorothy Parker”

Microsoft bets big on OpenAI

Microsoft has a significant investment in OpenAI (makers of ChatGPT and Dall-E). Dall-E is already being used by Microsoft to generate images from text for Microsoft Designer.

It makes sense for Microsoft to add these “AI” options.  They have a long-term policy of adding as many cloud-based features as possible.  Cloud features increase the reliance on Microsoft’s services, can generate good profits and are hard for competitors to match.

It’s reported that Microsoft is in talks to invest another $10 Billion in OpenAI. That gives Microsoft not just a likely profitable investment but also access to the technology to use in Office and other Microsoft products.

No trouble with compatibility since OpenAI is already using Microsoft cloud servers to power ChatGPT and Dall-E.

And there’s more AI magic around

There’s more possible beyond taking text to make images or larger blocks of text.

There are AI project in development to turn text into 3D models (Point-E and other projects), text to audio (to make sound effects), text to music and better speech recognition.

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