Final yr, Microsoft dedicated over $100 billion of new investment towards AI. A part of that technological arms race has included coaching LLMs on millions of books, together with some written 600 years in the past. This yr, Microsoft is paying again the favor by ditching its personal worker library. The Verge reports that the corporate is closing it down and slashing information subscriptions in favor of “AI-powered studying experiences.”
The onsite assortment of books was allegedly so heavy, it once was blamed for cracking the underground car parking zone pillars that supported it. That library, now housed in constructing 92, will now be closed, in response to The Verge. The corporate’s roughly 220,000 staff have additionally reportedly misplaced entry to testing digital copies of enterprise books and accessing information publications like The Info.
As a substitute of studying in regards to the world via the thought-about phrases of different human beings, they may now be participating with a “extra trendy, AI-powered studying expertise via the Skilling Hub,” in response to an FAQ despatched to employees. “The Library closed as a part of Microsoft’s transfer towards a extra trendy, linked studying expertise via the Skilling Hub,” it reads. “We all know this alteration impacts an area many individuals valued.”
Distinction that with what Microsoft lately mentioned after it was revealed that UK police had relied on an AI hallucination when making the controversial determination to ban followers from a sure soccer match. “Copilot combines info from a number of internet sources right into a single response with linked citations,” a spokesperson for the corporate informed media shops. “It informs customers they’re interacting with an AI system and encourages them to assessment the sources.” Keep in mind, it’s not slop, it’s a “bicycle for the thoughts.”
It’s unclear if Copilot would be the foundation for these new “AI studying experiences” that staff at the moment are being inspired to make the most of, or what different sources of knowledge they may use to assessment them now that the library is shutting down. Because the science fiction author Ray Bradbury once told the Seattle Times in Microsoft’s personal yard, “You don’t need to burn books to destroy a tradition. Simply get folks to cease studying them.”
