Microsoft is bringing artificial intelligence to the task of sorting through millions of servers to determine what can be recycled and where. The new initiative calls for the building of so-called Circular Centers at Microsoft data centers around the world, where AI algorithms will be used to sort through parts from decommissioned servers or other hardware and figure out which parts can be reused on the campus. Microsoft says it has more than three million servers and related hardware in its data centers, and that a server's average lifespan is about five years. Plus, Microsoft is expanding globally, so its server numbers should increase. Circular Centers are all about quickly sorting through the inventory rather than tying up overworked staff.

Microsoft is bringing artificial intelligence to the task of sorting through millions of servers to determine what can be recycled and where. The new initiative calls for the building of so-called Circular Centers at Microsoft data centers around the world, where AI algorithms will be used to sort through parts from decommissioned servers or other hardware and figure out which parts can be reused on the campus. Microsoft says it has more than three million servers and related hardware in its data centers, and that a server's average lifespan is about five years. Plus, Microsoft is expanding globally, so its server numbers should increase. Circular Centers are all about quickly sorting through the inventory rather than tying up overworked staff. Microsoft plans to increase its reuse of server parts by 90% by 2025.

It doesn't matter where your webcam is positioned, it's always going to be offset from the person you're talking to. The end result is we hardly ever look people in the eye when talking to them over video chat. Microsoft has created an intelligent solution, though. As spotted by Liliputing, the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build (20175) announcement contains details of a new feature Microsoft is calling "Eye Contact." It uses artificial intelligence to "adjust your gaze on video calls so you appear to be looking directly in the camera."

More women in India die from cervical cancer than in any other country. This preventable disease kills around 67,000 women in India every year, more than 25% of the 260,000 deaths worldwide. Effective screening and early detection can help reduce its incidence, but part of the challenge -- and there are several parts -- today is that the testing process to detect the onset of the disease is unbearably time-consuming. This is because the existing methodology that cytopathologists use is time consuming to begin with, but also because there are very few of them in the nation. Could AI speed this up?

On 12 November 2019, users running Windows 10 version 1803 (the October 2018 update) or earlier on non-enterprise licenses will be required to upgrade to version 1903 (May 2019 update) or find themselves no longer able to receive monthly security updates. Windows Update will automatically initiate a feature update to ensure device security and ecosystem health. Support for Windows 10 Enterprise users still on 1803 will end in November 2020. Needless to say, despite recent warnings this was coming, the update demand is likely to come as a shock to many 1803 users who only received what is still the most widely used version of Windows 10 as recently as May 2018. How will users of 1803 or earlier know they must update?

Microsoft has teamed with New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art on a series of "hackathon" projects. The projects pair the technology company's AI expertise with the Met's collection of artwork to "transform future connections between people and art," according to Microsoft. The "Met x Microsoft x MIT" partnership came out of a collaboration last December, where a two-day hackathon combined Microsoft's AI technology and the museum's data. It's a part of the Met's Open Access Program, designed to make the museum's collections more accessible on the Internet. A number of Microsoft Azure cloud services were used, including Azure Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, conversational AI, and more.

Aside from the services it makes available directly to end users, Microsoft's backbone services are made available to organisations wanting to build their own intelligent tools. The overarching framework is known as Microsoft AI Platform, which ties together a number of more specialised packages such as Microsoft Cognitive Services, Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit and Microsoft Bot Framework. These work by allowing AI (machine learning) algorithms to be deployed on the powerful and popular Azure cloud computing platform, with users simply paying for processing and storage as it is required. Removing the need for organisations to host their own expensive and fast-ageing infrastructure is key to CEO Satya Nadella's vision of "democratising AI".

The adoption of AI in business and society is being spurred on by tech giants with resources to design, build and roll out services affordable and simple enough for everyday use. Microsoft is one of those at the forefront. This year, the words "artificial intelligence" appeared in a vision statement for the first time, reaffirming that smart, learning machines are considered central to everything they do. While it may only just be beginning to shout about it, Microsoft has been building intelligent functionality into many of its products and services for some time. If you regularly use Skype, Office 365, Cortana or Bing, you have probably come across them.