In just a few months, you'll be able to ask a virtual assistant to transcribe meeting notes during a work call, summarize long email threads to quickly draft suggested replies, quickly create a specific chart in Excel, and turn a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation in seconds. Over the past week, a rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape seemed to leap ahead again. Microsoft and Google each unveiled new AI-powered features for their signature productivity tools and OpenAI introduced its next-generation version of the technology that underpins its viral chatbot tool, ChatGPT. Suddenly, AI tools, which have long operated in the background of many services, are now more powerful and more visible across a wide and growing range of workplace tools. Google's new features, for example, promise to help "brainstorm" and "proofread" written work in Docs.

During an AI-focused press event today, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft 365 Copilot, its latest push to embed its suite of productivity and enterprise apps with AI. Currently in testing with select (around 20) commercial customers, Copilot combines the power of AI models including OpenAI's recently announced GPT-4 with business data and Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. "Today marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing, which will fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. Copilot handles different tasks depending on the app in which it's used. For example, in Word, Copilot writes, edits, summarizes and generates text, while in PowerPoint and Excel, Copilot turns natural language commands into designed presentations and data visualizations.

Microsoft launched its AI for Work initiatives on Thursday, a way of applying artificial intelligence to work tasks like automating the creation of PowerPoint presentations and other tasks where AI can step in, directed by your commands. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella introduced its vision for the future of work as a "symbiosis" between human and machine. Microsoft announced Microsoft 365 Copilot, with AI embedded in Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and more. Business Chat will serve as an assistant to that. Microsoft also applied AI to its Power Platform, a little-known tool for actually writing code -- something Bing and rival ChatGPT have already shown that they can do.

As marketers look into 2018, they see that the conversational AI landscape is primed for increased consumer adoption. In fact, in a recent survey, nine out of 10 people said they prefer messaging directly with a brand. This year, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon all leaned into messaging and conversation. In 2018, the big four will make conversational AI the main gateway to communicate with the customer. Words like "chatbot," "AI," and "machine learning" are certainly trending at the moment.

As marketers look into 2018, they see the conversational AI landscape is primed for increased consumer adoption. In fact, in a recent survey, nine out of ten people said they prefer messaging directly with a brand. In 2018, the big four will make conversational AI the main gateway to communicate with the customer. Words like "chatbot", "AI," and "machine learning" are certainly trending at the moment. For a brand, embracing emerging trends and breakthrough technologies, like chatbots, is imperative, but so is aligning new innovations with a strategy that drives to the bottom line.

Apple's iOS 11 update will support Business Chat, a chat capability on Apple iMessage for companies such as retailers to use to communicate more directly with their customers, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Friday. During the live-streamed announcement, the company demonstrated how consumers could use Business Chat either from Apple's Safari browser, Siri virtual assistant or other Apple applications to talk via text message directly with a business that supports the feature. Apple Business Chat will be integrated with customer service systems that businesses commonly use from companies such as Salesforce, Nuance, LivePerson and Genesys, Apple said. Chatbots were one of the hottest emerging technology solutions of 2016, giving businesses such as retailers a largely automated way to connect with their customers on messaging services such as Facebook Messenger. Facebook's support of chatbots has yielded some interesting and useful applications from retailers and others.

What is Apple Business Chat? How Apple Is Secretly Making Siri Indispensable. "Apple Business Chat with Apple Pay Cash is the most important iOS announcement since the release of Siri. It is a stunning new paradigm."--Brian Your smartphone has created a new world of communication systems that almost go unnoticed.

Apple just unveiled Business Chat, its bid to turn iMessage into a communication platform that can compete with Facebook Messenger – and perhaps, make iMessage one of the main ways you interact with businesses. The company quietly announced the service earlier this week with an update to its developer site, but few details were available at the time. Today was the real introduction, with a session at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. Business Chat will be part of iOS 11, allowing individuals to open an iMessage window from Safari, Maps, Spotlight, or Siri, and start a conversation with a business. Those conversations will include basic text chats, but Apple is also offering support and structure for more complex interactions, like scheduling an appointment.