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 learning 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 trying out digital copies of enterprise books and accessing information publications like The Info.
As a substitute of studying concerning the world via the thought-about phrases of different human beings, they may now be participating with a “more modern, AI-powered learning experience through the Skilling Hub,” in response to an FAQ despatched to employees. “The Library closed as part of Microsoft’s move toward a more modern, connected learning experience through the Skilling Hub,” it reads. “We know this change affects a space many people valued.”
Distinction that with what Microsoft just 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 information from multiple web sources into a single response with linked citations,” a spokesperson for the corporate advised media shops. “It informs users they are interacting with an AI system and encourages them to review the sources.” Bear in mind, it’s not slop, it’s a “bicycle for the mind.”
It’s unclear if Copilot would be the foundation for these new “AI learning experiences” that staff are actually being inspired to make the most of, or what different sources of data they may use to evaluate 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 have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
