Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Many feared that artificial intelligence would kill jobs. But hospitals, insurance companies and others are creating roles to navigate and harness the disruptive technology.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/technology/us-jobs-ai-chatgpt-tech.html
(Archive: https://archive.ph/FCHZ2)

Why? Because artificial intelligence has been a breakthrough catalyst for never-before advancements.  Here’s some of the many that Microsoft has been involved with in just the last year:

• Cancer Detection: Paige & Microsoft Build World’s Largest AI Model to Detect Cancer
• Ocean Cleanup: AI & Machine Learning actively in use for Project Ocean Cleanup
• Battery Life: New battery with 50% greater charge discovered with AI
• Vaccine Development: ‘Remarkable’ AI tool designs mRNA vaccines that are more potent and stable
• Climate Change: UN tracks progress against Climate Change with Microsoft AI for Earth
• Environmental Protection: AI may hold a key to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest
• Election Tampering Detection: Technology industry to combat deceptive use of AI in 2024 elections
• Educational Equity: Educators & students now have a secure AI ‘scaffolding’ to support classrooms
• Accelerating Research: AI ‘for all’: How access to new models is advancing academic research, from astronomy to education

As a part of our journey to reduce our ransomware risk internally here at Microsoft, we’ve identified five principles that we believe every enterprise should follow to make themselves more secure from these attacks. We call these our Foundational Five of Ransomware.

While we use Microsoft products to secure our systems, infrastructure, data, and identities, the Foundational Five are product agnostic and can be scaled to meet the needs and requirements of organizations of any size. This is especially important for smaller organizations, with 70 percent of encounters with human-operated ransomware happening in organizations with fewer than 500 employees, according to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023.

Read the full report here:

• Lessons learned at Microsoft: Five steps you can take to reduce your ransomware risk
  https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/lessons-learned-at-microsoft-five-steps-you-can-take-to-reduce-your-ransomware-risk/

A hybrid supercomputer that combines both classical and quantum capabilities has the potential to solve classically intractable problems and help address the most pressing global issues. These hybrid supercomputers will run computations on highly reliable logical qubits. Scientifically valuable problems will start to be solved with around 100 reliable logical qubits while commercial-scale solutions will require upwards of 1000 reliable logical qubits. To make this potential a reality, scientific and engineering breakthroughs are required.

Recently, Microsoft and Quantinuum announced a key breakthrough that launches the field into reliable quantum computing by creating the most reliable logical qubits on record, with logical error rate 800 times better than the error rate of the physical qubits. This marks a crucial milestone on the path to a hybrid classical-quantum supercomputer capable of transforming research and innovation across many industries.

Join us to learn more about the results of this collaboration and how the collective advancement of quantum hardware, error diagnostics and correction, and reliable quantum computing will accelerate science through hybrid applications.

• WEBINAR: “Entering the era of reliable quantum computing“
  April 30, 2024 9:00 AM (America/Los_Angeles)
  (Duration: 30 minutes)
  https://msazurequantum.eventbuilder.com/event/81611

A new complementary LinkedIn Learning course is available on our Public Sector Center for Digital Skills. Take this complimentary LinkedIn Learning Course and learn how to unleash the power of Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity.

This course will guide you through using AI, with the needed preparation and guardrails, to solve complex cybersecurity problems. You will also learn how to solve cybersecurity problems with AI and the myriad ways you can apply machine learning to security.

• TRAINING: LinkedIn Learning Course: “Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity”
  https://www.linkedin.com/learning-login/share?account=3322&forceAccount=false&redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Flearning%2Fartificial-intelligence-for-cybersecurity-22882411%3Ftrk%3Dshare_ent_url%26shareId%3D8LXM7MtCRz2NqKF3s4ybzA%253D%253D

As a single, comprehensive solution, Microsoft Purview can
simplify vendor management, improve operational efficiency,
and use AI and automation to eliminate manual work and
help out overburdened SecOps and DevOps teams. All of that
means your organization can better contain costs and do more
with less. That’s always good business, of course, but it’s even
more important in times of global economic uncertainty.

This e-book will walk you through how Microsoft Purview
can help you:

• Understand and govern data across clouds
  and platforms
• Safeguard data wherever it lives and prevent
  exfiltration with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools
• Identify, manage, and help reduce insider risk
  and other data vulnerabilitie

Get the eBook here:

• Crash Course in Microsoft Purview: A guide to securing and managing you data estate
  https://info.microsoft.com/rs/157-GQE-382/images/EN-WBNR-PDF-SREVM21780.pdf

Copilot is a pioneering chat assistant from Microsoft powered by the latest OpenAI models, GPT-4 and DALL·E 3. These advanced AI technologies provide fast, complex, and precise responses, as well as the ability to create breathtaking visuals from simple text descriptions.

• Enterprise Mode also provides extra protection of personal and company data for Enterprise chat.
• You can also integrate plugins or use custom Copilot GPTs for expanded functionality.
• Upgrade to Copilot Pro* and unleash your productivity and creativity. Enjoy exclusive experiences and priority access for faster performance during peak hours.
• Chat and create all in one place!

Key features
A versatile AI assistant to boost productivity
By harnessing the power of GPT-4, Copilot quickly provides creative, personalized answers. With this amazing AI assistant at your side, you can accomplish work, school, or personal tasks even faster, including:

1. Drafting emails
2. Summarizing complex texts
3. Creating personalized travel itineraries
4. Writing and updating job resumes
5. Composing stories or scripts
6. Multilingual content translation, proofreading, and optimization

Boost design efficiency with DALL·E 3
DALL·E 3 can transform your design process by quickly creating high quality visuals from text prompts, rendering your concepts into stunning visuals, from the abstract to the photorealistic. Explore an array of design capabilities:

• Generate logo designs
• Quickly explore new styles and ideas
• Develop brand motifs
• Create custom backgrounds
• Build and update a portfolio
• Create illustrations for children’s books
• Curate social media content
• Visualize film and video storyboards

Supercharge your productivity and creativity with Copilot Pro*
The ultimate AI companion.

• Faster performance and priority access to GPT-4 during peak times
• Use Copilot in select Microsoft 365 apps (Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription required)
• Faster AI image creation with 100 boosts per day with Designer (formerly Bing Image Creator)

By combining the power of GPT-4 with the imaginative capabilities of DALL·E 3, Copilot not only enhances your design workflow, but can also bring your creativity to inspiring new heights. Experience the future of AI interaction–download Copilot today!

*Functions mentioned above not available in all markets, actual features and display contents may vary.

SITE: Copilot app for Mobile

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot-app

DOWNLOAD: Copilit app for Mobile

• iOS – Apple App Store
• Android – Google Play Store

Did you know there’s a rate limit for the speed at which you may use Azure OpenAI Services in “tokens per minute”? Did you know there’s a maximum quota for Azure OpenAI Service usage as well?

And did you know there’s a way around all that? (Psst. It’s called PTUs. Read about it in the post below.)

The FastTrack for Azure team has written a great, easy to understand, write up about the ways people can use Azure OpenAI Services and how to deal with rate limitations & quotas.

This blog focuses on good practices for monitoring Azure Open AI limits and quotas. With the growing interest and application of Generative AI, Open AI models have emerged as pioneers in this transformative era. To maintain consistent and predictable performance for all users, these models impose certain limits and quotas. For Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Digital Natives utilizing these models, understanding these limits and establishing efficient monitoring strategies is paramount to ensures a good customer experience to the end-users of their products and services. This blog seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of these monitoring strategies, thereby enabling ISVs and Digital Natives to optimally leverage AI technologies for their respective customer bases.

Covered topics:

• Understanding Limits and Quotas
• Choosing between tokens-per-minute and provisioned throughput models
• Effective Monitoring Techniques
• Optimization Recommendations
• Prevention and Response Strategies for Limit Exceeding

Read the full post here:

• Optimizing Azure OpenAI: A Guide to Limits, Quotas, and Best Practice
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/fasttrack-for-azure/optimizing-azure-openai-a-guide-to-limits-quotas-and-best/ba-p/4076268

As published this week on the Microsoft Public Sector Center of Expertise, this research paper “Public Sector Insights on Skilling” outlines considerations and best practices for supporting technology training in government organizations.

We interviewed Microsoft government customers to understand the challenges public sector organizations face when it comes to skilling their employees. The report, Public Sector Insights on Skilling, reveals skilling leads to heightened employee engagement, improved performance, and bolstered talent retention. I encourage you to read this report to help showcase the indispensable role of skilling and how it empowers governments to deliver superior outcomes to citizens and communities.

• REPORT: “Public Sector Insights on Skilling” (.PDF)
  https://wwps.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PublicSectorInsightsonSkilling.pdf

The Power Platform Conference 2024 is an in-person conference that will feature pre-conference workshops, keynotes, sessions, breakouts, and more—all dedicated to Microsoft Power Platform products:

• Power Automate
• Power Apps
• Power BI
• Power Pages
• Copilot Studio

Kicking off on September 18 with pre-conference workshops (16, 17, 21), the Power Platform Conferenence 2024 runs September 18-20, 2024. Come and get inspired by Microsoft’s senior thought leaders, software engineers, and community experts who are focused on uniting humanity and technology. You’ll also have the chance to hear from users that solve real business problems daily. Our fantastic speakers are ready to share their insights on how to accelerate and transform your business with Power Platform.

For a datasheet about the upcoming event, download:
https://powerplatformconf.com/content/documents/MPPC-WhyAttend-Flyer_2024.pdf

For background on last year’s MPPC2023, visit:
https://powerplatformconf.com/#!/news

• Dates/Times:
  September 18 – 20 2024
  (Workshops: September 16, 17 and 21)

• Location:
  MGM Grand Conference Center
  Las Vegas, NV

• Registration:
  https://powerplatformconf.com/#!/register
  $1699 until March 12th
  • Full conference passes include 3 continental breakfasts, 3 lunches, a T-shirt and backpack
  • Workshops are an additional $699 per day for either pre or post
  • (Note: This event will be in-person only.)

New for Public Sector entities:

LinkedIn Learning Course Available: “Microsoft Power Apps AI Builder”

A new LinkedIn Learning course exclusively available on the Public Sector Center for Digital Skills: Microsoft Power Apps AI Builder.   Take this complimentary LinkedIn Learning Course and learn how to create custom AI models that can be used in Microsoft Power Apps or Power Automate. You’ll learn how to create AI automation for tasks such as form processing, object detection, and text classification and how to build each model; train, review, and test the models.

Learn how to:

• Create custom AI models that can be used in Microsoft Power Apps or Power Automate.
• Create AI automation for tasks such as form processing, object detection, and text classification.
• Build each model, including training, reviewing, and testing the models.

Available here:

• Public Sector Center for Digital Skills:
  LinkedIn Learning course: Microsoft Power Apps AI Builder