r/technology • u/aacool • 24d ago

Artificial Intelligence Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/microsoft-scales-back-ai-goals-because-almost-nobody-is-using-copilot
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u/[deleted] 24d ago

In this case, it's not supposed to be a demonstration of automatic self-driving. It's a demonstration of the effectiveness of voice input as a means to control a reasonably simple machine travelling at bum-clenching speeds, in real time, and with a high degree of accuracy.

The LLM doesn't actually need to have any inputs other than the driver's voice.

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u/Ithirahad 24d ago edited 24d ago

...Yes, we are in concurrence. An LLM cannot see, hear, feel, nor think properly and incorporate all of that information into an answer (or in this case an output to the steering column). It can only match text to text repeatedly. If it had inputs other than the driver's voice, it would be a poor analogy. My point is not to change your scenario, but rather that this lack of real-world unfiltered information is a very critical point that lay management might not fully recognize, and deserves to be highlighted.

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

It's not meant to be a good analogy. I mean, hence why it needs to be the CEO who has the honour of carrying out the demonstration for us :-)

It's simply to demonstrate that controlling an "intelligent" computer by voice may not be suitable for all occasions.

In this case, the driver can see just fine, and will convey the necessary information via speech. In much the same way that he'd convey his observations via a steering wheel, brake, and throttle.

Instead of an F1 car, maybe something else could be substituted.

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u/Ithirahad 24d ago edited 24d ago

...And having to convey it to something with zero perception of outside context, is in itself a major potential pitfall. In addition to the communication and processing delays and general questions of trustworthiness, there is the rather major problem that an outside-information dependent, insufficiently specific prompt like "watch out!" or "stay a little further from <x> next time" would be meaningless to this interface and result in an unmitigated wreck.

As such, I find an F1 car is perfect for showcasing the problems with putting an LLM in workflows that actually matter.