Microsoft to allow customers build autonomous AI starting November 2024 

Software giant, Microsoft, has announced plans to allow customers to build autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents starting in November, marking its latest move to capitalize on the rapidly growing AI market.

Unlike traditional chatbots, these autonomous agents will require minimal human intervention, making them powerful tools for automating tasks such as client inquiries, sales lead identification, and inventory management.

Described by Microsoft as “apps for an AI-driven world,” these agents are expected to revolutionize business operations by enabling companies to handle routine processes more efficiently.

Major tech players, including Salesforce, have also touted the potential of such AI agents, which could help companies generate returns on the billions of dollars being invested in AI technologies.

Introducing Copilot Studio 

Microsoft said its customers will be able to use Copilot Studio, an application designed for creating autonomous AI agents, starting in November.

• The AI agents will be powered by a combination of in-house AI models and those developed by OpenAI.

• To further streamline adoption, Microsoft is also rolling out ten pre-built agents to assist with tasks like supply chain management, expense tracking, and client communications.

• In one demonstration, consulting firm McKinsey & Co., which had early access to the tools, created an AI agent capable of managing client inquiries, identifying the appropriate consultant for tasks, and scheduling follow-up meetings.

Personalized AI for every employee 

According to Charles Lamanna, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of business and industry Copilot, the goal is for every employee to have their own Copilot, a personalized AI agent.

This Copilot will serve as the user interface for interacting with a range of AI agents, further enhancing productivity and efficiency.

“The idea is that Copilot is the user interface for AI. Every employee will have a Copilot, their personalized AI agent, and they will use that Copilot to interface and interact with the sea of AI agents that will be out there,” Lamanna said.

What you should know 

The announcement of Microsoft’s autonomous AI initiative comes a few days after Meta introduced its new artificial intelligence model called the “Self-Taught Evaluator,” aimed at significantly reducing human input in AI training and evaluation.

• Unlike traditional models that rely on human-generated data for training, the Self-Taught Evaluator was trained entirely using AI-generated data.

• The approach eliminates the need for human intervention during the training phase, offering a potential path toward fully autonomous AI agents capable of self-learning and correction.

• According to Meta researchers, the AI tool can learn from its own mistakes, positioning it as a major step forward in the AI field.

The Self-Taught Evaluator is expected to reduce the dependency on a process known as Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), which requires human experts to label data and verify responses.