Welcome to Research Focus, a series of blog posts that highlights notable publications, events, code/datasets, new hires and other milestones from across the research community at Microsoft. NEW RESEARCH RELEVANCE: Automatic evaluation framework for LLM responses Relevance in AI refers to the usefulness of information or actions to a specific task or query. It helps determine the accuracy, effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of content from search engines, chatbots, and other AI systems. RELEVANCE (Relevance and Entropy-based  

In the latest episode of Microsoft Research Forum, researchers explored the importance of globally inclusive and equitable AI, shared updates on AutoGen and MatterGen, presented novel use cases for AI, including industrial applications and the potential of multimodal models to improve assistive technologies.  Below is a brief recap of the event, including select quotes from the presentations. Full replays of each session and presentation will be available soon.  Jacki O’Neill, Lab Director, Microsoft  

The integration of AI and other computational technologies is becoming increasingly common in high-stakes sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government, where their capacity to influence critical decisions is growing. While these systems offer numerous benefits, they also introduce risks, such as entrenching systemic biases and reducing accountability. The ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FaccT 2024) tackles these issues, bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines who are committed to the responsible development of computational […]

When Storm Ciarán battered northwestern Europe in November 2023, it left a trail of destruction. The low-pressure system associated with Storm Ciarán set new records for England, marking it as an exceptionally rare meteorological event. The storm’s intensity caught many off guard, exposing the limitations of current weather-prediction models and highlighting the need for more accurate forecasting in the face of climate change. As communities grappled with the aftermath, the urgent question arose: How can we better anticipate and prepare […]

In this episode, I’m talking with Principal PM Manager Weishung Liu. Wei has used her love of storytelling and interest in people and their motivations to deliver meaningful products and customer experiences. This includes the creation of a successful line of Disney plush toys and contributions to the satellite internet system Starlink. With Microsoft, she helped develop Watch For, a real-time video analytics platform that has gone on to enhance gaming via streaming highlights and to support content moderation in […]

Introduction In today’s data-driven world, organizations strive to leverage data to train and adapt AI models. However, this pursuit often faces an important challenge: balancing the value of data with the need to safeguard individuals’ right to  

Welcome to Research Focus, a series of blog posts that highlights notable publications, events, code/datasets, new hires and other milestones from across the research community at Microsoft. EVENT Register now for Research Forum on June 4 Join us for Research Forum (opens in new tab), an event series that explores recent research advances, bold new ideas, and important discussions with the global research community in the era of general  

[MUSIC FADES]  My guest on this episode is Abigail Sellen, known by her friends and colleagues as Abi. A social scientist by training and an expert in human-computer interaction, Abi has a long list of accomplishments and honors, and she’s a fellow of many technical academies and societies. But today I’m talking to her in her role as distinguished scientist and lab director of Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK, where she oversees a diverse portfolio of research, some of which supports […]

ANDREY KOLOBOV: Thank you for having me! HUIZINGA: So let’s start with a sort of abstract of your abstract. In just a few sentences, tell us about the problem your research addresses and more importantly, why we should care about it.  KOLOBOV: Right, so the overarching goal of this work—and I have to thank my collaborators from ETH Zürich, without whom this work would have been impossible—so the overarching goal of our work was to give drones the ability to […]

GEHRKE: We just had a discussion maybe a couple of years ago, right, when you were just in transition to Africa. So it’s really great to have you here and both learn a little bit what’s happening there, but also to learn a bit more about your story. Where did you grow up, and how did you end up here at Microsoft? O’NEILL: Yeah, thanks for asking that. I’ve had a very, well, it’s definitely not been a straight road […]