Microsoft updates its Edge web browser with built-in AI capabilities TechCrunch
During a Microsoft press event today where the company demonstrated its new AI-powered search capabilities in Bing, the company also announced a new version of its Edge web browser that includes built-in AI technologies . With the new browser, internet users could do things like summarize search results with the help of AI and converse with AI chatbots to get their questions answered, among others.
“It’s sleeker, it’s lighter,” Microsoft vice president Yusuf Mehdi said while demonstrating the new version of the browser, which now also sports a few aesthetic changes, like rounded corners.
Similar to upcoming updates on Bing, an AI chatbot is available in a sidebar in Edge and includes two features: chat and compose.
Picture credits: Microsoft event photo via TechCrunch
These can be combined to help users do things like summarize long web content, perform comparisons, or even create content, in some cases.
Mehdi showed how Edge’s AI powers could be used in a handful of demos during the event. In one, he visited the Gap website to view quarterly reports and results. He clicks on a link to view the Q3 report and extracts a 15-page PDF.
“It’s long enough. I won’t have time to read all that. What I would like is a summary of the key points,” he says.
Then, with one click, he opens a chatbot from the top of the browser and asks him to give him the most important takeaways from the page. The AI quickly returns a summary, which is a “massive time saver,” notes Mehdi.
What’s more impressive, however, is what the AI does next. He asks her to compare Gap Q3’s financial data to Lululemon’s and create a chart with her findings.
Picture credits: Microsoft event photo via TechCrunch
In another demo, he showed how AI could be used with developer resources on the Stack Overflow website. He started looking for tips on how to parse a JSON file on the site and finds a code snippet in the results that he wants to use. But the code is in Python and he wants it in Rust.
To get help from the AI, he highlights the text which then displays it in Edge’s new sidebar, then asks the AI to write the code in Rust. It does.
In a final example, Mehdi demonstrates how to use AI in the sidebar to write a LinkedIn post. (And you thought corporate messages looked like robots now!). In this case, it gives the AI a few prompts to start it. You can also request to refine the message by tone, format, or length, and Edge understands and updates the draft accordingly.
Similar to Bing updates, the updated Edge browser will be available for preview today.
“AI will fundamentally change every category of software, starting with the biggest category of all – search,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft president and CEO, said in an announcement. “Today, we’re launching Bing and Edge powered by co-pilot and AI chat, to help people get the most out of search and the web.”
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