Microsoft to use AI to assist the blind, fix bias, and rescue the planet - TechRepublic

At a Wednesday event in London, Harry Shum, executive vice president for Microsoft's AI and Research Group, explained the firm's plans to improve its research in artificial intelligence (AI), as well as to use the technology to help the blind and solve environmental issues. The company formed a new incubation hub called Microsoft Research AI (MSR AI) to focus on some of the problems and challenges in the AI space. The MSR AI team will work on the theoretical application of AI, as well as its practical implementation in the real world, a Microsoft blog post said. According to the post, fields of study like machine learning, perception, and natural language processing have fractured and moved in different directions. A goal of the MSR AI team will be to reunite these fields of study and develop a more integrated approach to AI.