Microsoft has acquired artificial intelligence startup Genee for an undisclosed amount. According to analysts, Microsoft is planning to embed artificial intelligence (AI) to its upcoming products to compete with the likes of Google Now and Apple. Even though the financial details were not disclosed, the founder of the smart scheduling app Genee Charles Lee will join Microsoft. Founded in 2014, the start-up will shut down its service on September 1. Commenting on the merger, Rajesh Jha, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Outlook and Office 365 revealed that the company will make use of Genee’s capabilities in the development of Office 365 productivity solutions. Jha added that he is confident that the Genee team will assist the product team to integrate compelling intelligence solutions to meet the digital experience.
Microsoft is hopeful that since scheduling of meetings often involve a lot of back and forth over emails, the artificial intelligence solution developed by Genee will be very useful. It specializes in the effective use of machine smarts to handle the time-sucking task of scheduling meetings.
Integration with Office 365
We don’t have any information as to whether the duct will be integrated with any of the Microsoft’s existing applications. However, the company sources revealed to us that the solutions developed by Genee will be integrated into Office 365 solutions.
Working of Genee
Genee works when a user delivers an email to the person they wanted to set up a meeting with a copy in Genee. This is somewhat similar to that of a personal assistant.
Genee automatically understands the complete details of the meeting, which includes the date and location of the meeting. The Genee app sends an email to the recipient directly with options that fit the user’s calendar and preferences. Genee has the capability to do this because it makes use of natural language processing.
In the past, computers found it very hard to understand the normal language but improvements in artificial intelligence have now made things easier. In addition to sensing activities, Genee can also predict the time of the day.
Usage of Natural language processing
Genee makes use of natural language processing and optimized decision-making algorithms to interact with a virtual assistant. It streamlines the process by emailing to the relevant person directly with appropriate options that work with your calendar and preferences. Genee also delivers a meeting invite on your behalf, reducing your workload to a considerable extent.
You can expect future releases of Office 365 to ship with the features and functionalities of Genee. The capabilities of Genee can also be used to improve the functionality of Microsoft Cortana to compete with the likes of Google Now and Apple Siri. In fact, many popular tech companies are keen to leverage the capabilities of artificial intelligence to strengthen their digital personal assistant.
