Transcript [MUSIC]  DOUG BURGER: AI is going to reshape the future. I don’t think there’s any question about that now. How we reshape it depends on the choices we make, and so it’s important to understand what we think those shapes are.  This is The Shape of Things to Come. I’m Doug Burger. I manage Microsoft Research’s worldwide labs, and I’m excited to introduce this new Microsoft Research Podcast series.   I called the podcast The Shape of Things to Come because as researchers, the problems that we choose to solve and the technologies that we develop do […]

At a glance Today’s AI agent benchmarks test one task at a time, while real workplace productivity requires managing dozens of interdependent tasks at once. To reflect this, we created a setting called Multi-Horizon Task Environments (MHTEs). Under multi-task loads, leading computer-using agents degrade sharply, with completion rates dropping from 16.7% to 8.7%. CORPGEN introduces digital employees,  

At a glance Imitation learning becomes easier when an AI agent understands why an action is taken. Predictive Inverse Dynamics Models (PIDMs) predict plausible future states, clarifying the direction of behavior during imitation learning. Even imperfect predictions reduce ambiguity, making it clearer which action makes sense in the moment. This makes PIDMs far more data‑efficient  

At a glance AI-driven medical image report generation can help medical providers become more efficient and productive. Current models are difficult to train because reporting practices vary widely among providers. Universal Report Generation (UniRG) uses reinforcement learning to align model training with real-world radiology practice rather than proxy text-generation objectives. UniRG  

At a glance Today’s multimodal AI systems can give answers that sound right but may not be grounded in what they actually observe over time, leading to unpredictable errors and safety risks in real-world settings. Argos is a verification framework

AI agents are reshaping software development, from writing code to carrying out complex instructions. Yet LLM-based agents are prone to errors and often perform poorly on complicated, multi-step tasks. Reinforcement learning (RL) is an approach where AI systems learn to make optimal decisions by receiving rewards or penalties for their actions, improving through  

Anyone who uses AI systems knows the frustration: a prompt is given, the response misses the mark, and the cycle repeats. This trial-and-error loop can feel unpredictable and discouraging. To address this, we are excited to introduce Promptions (prompt + options), a UI framework that helps developers build AI interfaces with more precise user control. Its simple design makes  

The convergence of digital transformation and the GenAI revolution creates an unprecedented opportunity for accelerating progress in precision health. Precision immunotherapy is a poster child for this transformation. Emerging technologies such as multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) can assess internal states of individual cells along with their spatial locations, which is critical for deciphering how tumors interact