Technology is growing more human by the day. By 2018, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that half of all consumers are expected to interact with cognitive computing on a regular basis.1 At Microsoft, we are developing new capabilities and creating innovative products to help our clients can reach their audiences in the most effective way possible.
Today, I presented at Advertising Week Europe to discuss the future cognitive capabilities of technology – how technology is becoming increasingly human through the ability to learn and interact with audiences on a more emotional level than ever before. Voice, image and emotional recognition are today woven into Microsoft products with the aim of helping companies bring AI to life themselves.
From a business perspective, advancements in AI mean organisations can deepen their audience engagement by uncovering new insights about customers’ challenges and preferences. According to IDC, worldwide cognitive systems and AI will drive revenues from £6.5 billion in 2016 to £39 billion in 2020.2 We believe that AI will augment and support the work businesses do, and, importantly, the work we as humans do every day.
We have worked with businesses such as Uber to provide a solution to a real-world problem. Uber wanted to confirm the driver they had approved to pick up the customer was, in fact, who they claimed to be. Uber used the Microsoft Cognitive Services Face API to build its Real-Time ID Check feature. This feature verified a series of regular ‘selfies’ uploaded by the driver, comparing these photos in varying poses, focus, and lighting conditions, to an image sent immediately after accepting the ride. This feature can support up to one million users and provides quick authentication, enhancing brand trust and credibility, without slowing down the speed with which that car pulls up at the curb.
Our AI offering today incorporates Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant powered by Bing, for consumers, the Cognitive Services and Bot Framework for developers, and Machine Learning for businesses. Today, our goal is to make these A.I. advances we use in our products, available to all developers.
We have also recently launched APIv6 – a partner-agnostic platform utilising a plethora of search APIs, such as web, image, video and news, with enhanced filtering capabilities which is now available exclusively for Bing syndication partners to leverage in the services they deliver. This is impressive technology, with the search capabilities able to understand objects and even the emotion of someone within an image.
From faces and feeling, to speech and sound, for brands, the opportunities and possibilities to capitalise on API capabilities and AI more broadly, is endless. And for consumers, it means connecting with a brand on an emotional level and ultimately getting more relevant personalised offerings that matter to them.
If you are interested about learning more about Microsoft’s Cognitive Services, please get in touch or visit the dedicated site, here.
1 As quoted in Forbes, Dec 2016
2 International Data Corporation (IDC), 26 Oct 2016