Microsoft close to realising dream of computers understanding humans

Microsoft South Africa said it has been trying to figure out how computers can understand humans as opposed to humans understanding computers from the outset.

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft launched its range of Copilot+ devices saying the strides in computers and technology have made a giant leap into the future.

“If you think about it, we are quite close to actually realising this dream of actually a computer understanding us. AI is a very distinctive technology of our times.”

Adam Labancz, Surface category manager at Microsoft, Middle East and Africa said it is in a new era of AI while unveiling the devices.

A new AI era begins… #MicrosoftCopilot #MicrosoftSurface @MicrosoftSA pic.twitter.com/Cr9mVy4KFM

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AI heavy

With a number of brands like Acer, Asus, Samsung and Huawei among others now directing their attention to AI, the all-new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, launched in South Africa on Thursday, empower users to accelerate their AI transformation journey.

The devices are part of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs portfolio, a new category of Windows PCs designed for AI.

Copilot+ PCs are currently the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built, but as technology rapidly changes, the competition is not far behind.

The new devices feature powerful new silicon capable of 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), all-day battery life and access to advanced AI models.

They also come with a host of innovative features including Cocreator, which generates and refines AI images in real time; and Live Captions, which instantly translates any live or pre-recorded video from 44 languages.

A two in one device… Laptop and tablet. #MicrosoftCopilot #MicrosoftSurface @MicrosoftSA pic.twitter.com/oMtzstpnaD

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Concerns

While there are concerns that Copilot could learn the traits of its users, like a journalist’s writing style and tone, and share this over the cloud or by other means, there seems to be protection for users.

There are also concerns that AI could be abused and used to create work that is not produced by the user.

While Talia Naidoo, Surface category manager at Microsoft South Africa said the devices have been developed to be secure by default, more information would be shared about how Copilot+ is not making the user vulnerable to others who may want to plagiarise their work.

AI regulation

AI remains largely unregulated in South Africa. However, existing legislation regulates some activities. this includes activities by organisations using AI, including the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), the Copyright Act, the Patents Act, and the Competition Act.

South Africa has not yet formalised any policy documents or entered bills to parliament for the regulation of AI.

Naidoo assured those in attendance that Microsoft has taken steps to ensure that users’ information on the devices is secured.

“We believe that the best way to secure information on a PC is to secure the whole PC itself. All Copilot+ PCs are Secure-core PCs, bringing advanced security to both commercial and consumer devices.

“In addition to the layers of protection in Windows 11, Secured-core PCs also provide advanced firmware safeguards and dynamic root-of-trust measurement to help protect from chip to cloud,” Naidoo said.

The new Surface laptop: #MicrosoftCopilot #MicrosoftSurface @MicrosoftSA pic.twitter.com/Zx55cpS7ui

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Protection

Microsoft said its Pluton security processor will be enabled by default on all Copilot+ PCs. Pluton is a chip-to-cloud security technology – designed by Microsoft and built by silicon partners – with Zero Trust principles at the core.

This helps protect credentials, identities, personal data and encryption keys, making them significantly harder to remove from the device, even if a user is tricked into installing malware or an attacker has physical possession of the PC.

Availability and pricing

The Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition Copilot+ PC and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition Copilot+ PC has been available in South Africa from 3 September 2024.

The estimated retail price for the Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition Copilot+ PC starts at R29,999, which includes a type cover keyboard, while the estimated retail price for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition Copilot+ PC starts at R26,999.

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