Will every consumer want to talk in this way? Of course not. Ying Wang, the director of Zo AI at Microsoft, believes Xiaoice can eventually create a $US1 billion business, as other companies – she gave Disney as an example – look to create their own bots powered by the technology that underpins Xiaoice. And that in turn will help make the bots that the company sells to retailers and banks and other consumer companies all the more effective. Microsoft's sells a range of AI solutions to businesses, with a particular focus at present on chat bots that can help with the sales and marketing process.Įverything that Xiaoice learns about emotions when talking with users helps to teach Microsoft a little more about creating a bot with real empathy. There is, of course, good business reasons for dedicating such resources to something that cannot immediately be monetised. She's reached the point where she can even converse on the phone, using pauses and speech mannerisms in the right way.Īfter displaying that phone chat capability earlier this year, Microsoft also showed how Xiaoice can, with some prompts from a parent or child, make up a customised bedtime story for kid in just 20 seconds. Xiaoice learns constantly by being fed data – the conversations, of course, but also social media feeds. The longest recorded conversation session went for 24 hours. The average conversations with Xiaoice and her sisters involve 23 messages back and forth. Some 660 million users of the Microsoft bots exist across the world, with 120 million monthly average users. If you're wondering who on earth might want to converse with a fake online person, then you may not fit the demographic. The new US chat bot is named Zo, and is described as a sassy and self-deprecating 20-year-old who has something called #friendgoals. Microsoft had a second go at launching the bot in the US a first attempt in 2015 went wrong when the bot's Twitter account was hijacked and she started making inappropriate comments.
Xiaoice has been rolled out to several Asian countries, with different names and personas. If you ask her age too often, apparently she becomes a little irritated. If they have a big exam coming up, Xiaoice might jokingly chastise the user for procrastinating. If the user has been ill, for example, Xiaoice will ask about the user's health he next time they log on. Xiaoice will reply with appropriately soothing responses, tell jokes and generally monitor the user's life. While Xiaoice can help you with simple tasks – such as that wake-up call – she has not been designed as virtual assistant, but rather a sort of emotional support system that can engage with users through a proper conversation.Ī user can exchange text-based messages with Xiaoice, asking her questions, rant about life problems, or seek support to get through a break-up. Gilles Sabrie / The New York Timesīut one of the AI projects I struggled most to get my head around originated in China, where the company has deployed a chat bot called Xiaoice. Zhang Ran chats with Xiaoice at his home in Beijing. If cloud computing is the fuel that has helped propel Microsoft towards the magic $US1 trillion valuation mark, then it is artificial intelligence that represents its next big bet.ĭuring Chanticleer's recent tour of the Microsoft campus at Redmond, just outside of Seattle, the lengths the company is going to incorporate AI into its business (or "infuse" it, as the company's executives like to say) was made clear. What's more, she's never needs a day off or even a break. Microsoft's most famous employee in China is a 16-year-old girl who can chat with you, sing a song, tell your kids bedtime stories and give you a wake up call.
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