Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott on how AI and art will coexist in the future
Oct 3, 2023
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Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott discusses the state of Microsoft's AI efforts, including Bing's competition with Google. They explore the role of AI in creative content creation and the nature of art. Kevin also talks about improving GPU capacity and the benefits of using a portfolio of models for AI applications. The integration of specialized knowledge, copyright issues in AI training, and the reliability of AI-generated summaries are also discussed.
Microsoft sees Bing as a competitive search engine and aims to create a fair marketplace for big and small companies alike.
The future of AI-powered search will involve a balance between AI-generated and human-created content, while ensuring a fair economic engine for content creators.
Deep dives
AI Integration and Market Share Gains in Bing
The integration of AI into Bing has led to market share gains, with small but noticeable increases in usage. Microsoft continues to improve Bing through experimentation and feedback, with recent enhancements such as Dolly three integration into Bing chat. These advancements also benefit the other copilot products and the growing API business, which have seen positive growth.
Bing's Edge in the Search Monopoly Race
Microsoft sees Bing as a competitive search engine, with improvements in quality making it a daily driver for many users. The goal is fair marketplaces where high-quality products can compete, addressing concerns about Google's supposed monopoly in search. Microsoft believes in creating a level playing field and ensuring that marketplaces are fair for big and small companies alike.
AI-Powered Search and the Future of the Web
AI-powered search is not just about providing answers to questions, but also about facilitating tasks and achieving goals. While the future of the web will involve smart answers and AI assistants, there will still be a need for human creativity and deeper engagement beyond simple question and answer interactions. The challenge is to strike the right balance between AI-generated content and human-created content while ensuring a fair economic engine for content creators.
Cost of Compute, GPUs, and Microsoft's Future Chip Development
Microsoft's CTO, Kevin Scott, discusses the evolving landscape of compute costs and the dependence on GPUs, particularly NVIDIA's H100. While Microsoft values its partnership with NVIDIA, it is exploring collaborations with other chip vendors like AMD to ensure price competitiveness. Scott does not confirm rumors about Microsoft developing its own chips but states that the company will make the best choices for building systems using the available options.
I co-hosted the Code Conference last week, and today’s episode is one of my favorite conversations from the show: Microsoft CTO and EVP of AI Kevin Scott. If you caught Kevin on Decoder a few months ago, you know that he and I love talking about technology together. I really appreciate that he thinks about the relationship between technology and culture as much as we do at The Verge, and it was great to add the energy from the live Code audience to that dynamic.
Kevin and I talked about how things are going with Bing and Microsoft’s AI efforts, as well the company’s relationship with Nvidia and whether it's planning to develop its own AI chips. I also asked Kevin some pretty philosophical questions about AI: Why would you write a song or a book when AI is out there making custom content for other people? Well, it’s because Kevin thinks the AI is still “terrible” at it for now, as Kevin found out firsthand. But he also thinks that creating is just what people do, and AI will help more people become more creative.