Microsoft Launches Copilot Pro for AI-Powered Office Features

Microsoft's Copilot Pro, initially for businesses, is now available to consumers at a $20 monthly subscription.

Welcome back, AI Enthusiasts!

In today’s AI summary rundown:

  1. Microsoft Launches Copilot Pro for AI-Powered Office Features: Microsoft's Copilot Pro, initially for businesses, is now available to consumers at a $20 monthly subscription. By adding this subscription, existing Microsoft 365 subscribers can unlock Copilot for Office apps on Mac, Windows, and iPad. Features include generating PowerPoint slides from chatbot prompts, Copilot experiences in Word for rephrasing and summarizing, and Outlook.com integration for email assistance. Copilot also offers a preview version in Excel for data analysis. This move aims to empower users with AI capabilities, enhancing productivity in various Office applications

  2. FedEx Unveils fdx: A New E-commerce Platform to Rival Amazon: FedEx is set to launch a data-driven commerce platform, fdx, this fall, providing online merchants with comprehensive e-commerce solutions. Aimed at assisting businesses in supply chain management, customer sales, and delivery coordination, fdx integrates existing FedEx tools and features from acquired platforms like ShopRunner.

  3. Apple Surpasses Samsung in Global Smartphone Shipments: For the first time, Apple beats Samsung in global smartphone shipments, shipping 234.6 million devices compared to Samsung's 226.6 million in 2023. IDC's preliminary data highlights this shift, marking the first time in 13 years that Samsung isn't at the top. In 2010, Nokia led the board, with Samsung in second place and Apple absent from the top five. Xiaomi, Oppo, and Transsion follow in the top five smartphone shipments globally. This milestone signifies significant changes in the smartphone industry over the past 13 years.

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Insight: MIT Breakthrough: AI Models for Auditory Tasks Mirror Human Brain, Paving the Way for Better Hearing Tech!

MIT researchers have conducted the largest study on deep neural networks trained for auditory tasks, aiming to mimic the human auditory system and improve technologies like hearing aids. Utilizing machine learning, these computational models showed promising results by generating internal representations similar to the human brain when processing sounds. The study indicates that models trained on auditory tasks with background noise closely resemble the activation patterns in the human auditory cortex, emphasizing the importance of real-world conditions in training.

Deep neural networks consist of layers of processing units trained on vast datasets to perform specific tasks. The researchers assessed nine publicly available models and created 14 of their own. They found that models trained on multiple tasks and with background noise yielded representations most akin to the human brain's responses.

The research also supported the concept of hierarchical processing in the human auditory cortex, where early stages of the model mirrored the primary auditory cortex, and later stages reflected other brain regions. Different tasks optimized models to explain specific tuning properties, such as speech-related tasks aligning with speech-selective brain areas.

The findings suggest that these machine-learning models hold promise in understanding brain organization and may contribute to developing more effective hearing aids, cochlear implants, and brain-machine interfaces. The researchers aim to enhance these models further to predict brain responses and behaviors accurately, potentially opening doors to various applications. The study was funded by organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.

Training of the Day

Today, let’s dive into a quick and fun tutorial on how you can harness the power of AI to spark your creativity. We’re going to create a personalized work of digital art using AI!

1. Select a Theme: Choose a theme that sparks your interest, be it a social media strategy or an ad copy.

2. Craft a Prompt: Develop a detailed prompt, like "Suggest some interesting blog ideas surrounding the topic of Digital Marketing."

3. Pick an AI Tool: Explore user-friendly AI text generators like ChatGPT or Writesonic to bring your prompt to life.

4. Input Your Prompt: Feed your crafted prompt into the chosen AI tool and watch the creativity unfold!

5. Admire Your Art:  Within moments, revel in your unique output. Share it in our community or use it as inspiration for your projects! Remember, the more detailed your prompt, the more impressive the AI-generated results!

Prompt: Create a witty Haiku poem surrounding the theme of a beautiful sunrise.

Output: 

Golden whispers rise,

Sky's canvas painted anew,

Dawn's laughter unfurls.

Quirky AI Tools

  1. Song Meaning AI: SongMeaning.ai, an AI tool for music lovers, decodes song lyrics, revealing hidden themes. With updates, it keeps users current on the latest hits and their messages. A valuable resource for music study, it offers insights into lyrical composition. Ideal for deeper connections between listeners and their favorite music.

  2. Magicsnap AI: MagicSnap, an AI photo booth, transforms selfies into movie character-inspired photos with 20 photos and no costumes. Upload a selfie, train the AI, choose a character, and receive your magical transformation within minutes.

  3. Emoji Brew: EmojiBrew enriches digital conversations with AI-generated emoji combos. Browse thousands for various topics, from 'travel' to 'mental illness.' Copy and paste seamlessly into any content. Users can contribute creative pairings, making it perfect for social media, content creation, and expressive online interactions.

Trending AI Startups

  1. Replicate: 🚀 Co-founded by Ben Firshman, former lead at Docker, and Andreas Jansson, ex-Spotify machine learning engineer, Replicate tackles the technical barriers hindering widespread AI adoption. Offering an open-source model library, developers can seamlessly integrate AI with a few lines of code. Replicate automates API server generation for custom ML models, easily deployed on a robust GPU cluster, making AI accessible and hassle-free for developers.

  2. Tavus: 🎥 Tavus stands out as a unique video personalization platform, transforming recordings into countless AI-generated videos. With distinctive voice variables for each customer, it inspires loyalty and repeat conversions. This powerful tool takes a one-time recording and automatically tailors it, utilizing AI to create personalized videos that resonate long after being shared.

  3. Fathom: 🤖 Fathom simplifies meeting management by recording, transcribing, highlighting, and summarizing discussions. Designed for efficiency, users can set up the system in minutes. Fathom's AI assistance allows individuals and teams to focus on the conversation itself, ensuring important details are captured without the need for manual note-taking, streamlining the meeting experience.

AI-Generated Image of the Day

Generated by Blue Willow

Prompt: Create a mesmerizing impressionist-style watercolor oil painting of a serene pond set in the late afternoon or early evening. Envision the scene with lush greenery, overhanging willow branches, water lilies, and reflections of trees on the water's surface. Emphasize a harmonious blend of cool and warm tones, using expressive brushstrokes to convey spontaneity and movement. Play with light and shadow to capture the warm glow of dappled sunlight filtering through leaves, casting patterns on the water. Experiment with color blending for depth, incorporating ripples and reflections. Place a focal point, perhaps a swan or a small boat, surrounded by delicate details like dragonflies and birds. This condensed prompt aims to inspire a vivid and evocative painting that transports viewers to a tranquil pond, where the play of light, color, and nature's beauty converge in a captivating tableau.

Tip: the more specific the better

Question of the Day

How comfortable are you with the idea of AI-driven decision-making in critical areas such as law enforcement or judiciary?

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Today’s Meme 

That’s a Wrap 

That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!

If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @dthareja or email me at [email protected]

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