Microsoft strives to integrate artificial intelligence into as many products as possible. Until now, the service has only been available using a browser, such as a browser. Edge, if you are one of the lucky ones who have gained access.
But now, the new version of Bing with artificial intelligence is being integrated directly into the Windows 11 taskbar, bringing the technology to even more people. At the same time, Microsoft is opening up for even more people on the waiting list to have access to test the technology. On February 22, one million people had access to Bing Search. (ChatGPT had over 100 million users at the same time.)
In the all-new update to Windows 11, called 22H2 Moments 2, which will roll out starting February 28, 2023, you have a search box in the middle of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen that uses Bing Search with artificial intelligence. This means that you do not have to actively opt-in to use artificial intelligence and, therefore, cannot avoid it if you search in Windows!
The big question is also whether things are not moving too fast. Microsoft's AI-powered Bing is still in beta, and it still gets angry and shuts down conversations. However, to control it a bit, Microsoft has introduced several restrictions that make it less able to sweep out. However, many of those restrictions were eased again after four days.
At the same time, we will see many more products where artificial intelligence is an essential part of the functionality. Office 365 is still rumored to integrate Bing Chat into all applications, from email in Outlook and Skype to writing text in Word. Just like Bing Search has already come to Android and iOS. At the same time, work is underway on a version of Microsoft Teams Premium, where artificial intelligence is deeply integrated and can transcribe and make intelligent summaries of meetings.
Significance for teaching
With the increased accessibility comes some challenges in education because we all have to accept that these technologies are present and accessible. To a large extent, this requires us to think carefully and make teaching that is adapted to the new opportunities. However, teachers will also have limited options in teaching, and there will be courses or exercises that will be rejected in everyday life because they are too easy to solve together with artificial intelligence. This requires a high degree of in-service training of teachers and time to develop new pathways.
When artificial intelligence becomes available in Windows 11, we will also see a dependency on the language models. We already saw some signs of this when ChatGPT was down for three hours, prompting a lot of messages on social media. Among other things, one person wrote that he or she could not solve programming tasks without artificial intelligence. Perhaps this is in fact one of the greatest dangers of the new technologies: that students become dependent on the new technology and quickly lose the skills to succeed without a tool that can support them.
Men intet er sort og hvidt, og den kunstige intelligens i Windows 11 giver også en række fordele i undervisningen. Eleverne kan få understøttet deres læring, få hjælp til at forstå øvelser, tekster og komplekse problemstillinger i og udenfor undervisningen. Vi skal se den kunstige intelligens som en kompetent og kreativ sparringspartner, der også er tilgængelig for eleverne uden for den normale skoletid.