Previously aired on June 4, 2024

In this episode, researchers at Microsoft emphasized the importance of globally equitable AI, addressing challenges such as data representation and inclusivity. They also shared novel use cases, updates on the latest foundational advances in AI, and transformative applications from industry to material design.

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  • Microsoft Research Forum

    Join us for a continuous exchange of ideas about science and technology research in the era of general AI. This series explores recent advances, bold new ideas, and important discussions with the global research community.


    Episode 4 sessions

    Aired: September 3, 2024

    Learn about Microsoft’s research initiatives at the frontiers of multimodal AI. Discover novel models, benchmarks, and infrastructure for self-improvement, agents, weather prediction, and more.

    Image represents Episode2
    Image represents Episode1

    Keynote
    Phi-3-Vision: A highly capable and cost-effective “small” language vision model

    Jianfeng Gao,

    Distinguished Scientist and Vice President, Microsoft Research Redmond


    This talk introduced Phi-3-Vision, an advanced and economical open-source multimodal model. As a member of the Phi-3 model family, Phi-3-Vision enhances language models by integrating multi-sensory skills, seamlessly combining language and vision capabilities.

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    Panel Discussion
    Beyond Language: The Future of Multimodal Models in Healthcare, Gaming, and AI

    Katja Hofmann,
    Senior Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Cambridge
    Jianwei Yang,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Redmond
    Hoifung Poon,
    General Manager, Microsoft Research Health Futures
    John Langford (host),
    Partner Research Manager, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers


    This panel discussion explored the transformative potential of multimodal models across various domains, including precision health, game intelligence, and foundational models, addressing the challenges and opportunities in integrating diverse data sources for innovative solutions. They delve into the importance of multimodal models, the core challenges faced by researchers, and the future directions for bridging gaps and fostering synergies within the field.

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    Talk
    Analog optical computing for sustainable AI and beyond

    Jiaqi Chu,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Cambridge
    Francesca Parmigiani,
    Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research Cambridge


    This talk discussed a new kind of computer – an analog optical computer – that has the potential to accelerate AI inference and hard optimization workloads by 100x, leveraging hardware-software co-design to improve the efficiency and sustainability of real-world applications.

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    Talk
    Direct Nash Optimization: Teaching Language Models to Self-Improve with General Preferences

    Corby Rosset,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers


    This talk discussed teaching language models to self-improve using a preference oracle like GPT-4, framing it as a two-player game to find an optimal policy at a Nash equilibrium, and achieving state-of-the-art win rates against GPT-4 Turbo on benchmarks such as Alpaca-Eval and MT-Bench.

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    Talk
    Project Aurora: The first large-scale foundation model of the atmosphere

    Megan Stanley,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research AI for Science


    This talk discussed Aurora, a cutting-edge foundation model that offers a new approach to weather forecasting that could transform our ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of extreme events, air pollution, and the changing climate.

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    Talk
    A Generative Model of Biology for In-Silico Experimentation and Discovery

    Kevin Yang,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research New England


    This talk discussed how deep learning is enabling us to generate novel and useful biomolecules, enabling researchers and practitioners to better understand biology.

    Careers in research

    Talk
    Fostering appropriate reliance on AI

    Mihaela Vorvoreanu,
    Director UX Research and Responsible AI Education, Microsoft Aether


    This talk will address the probabilistic nature of AI systems and the challenge of fostering appropriate reliance in human-AI interactions. Discover how Microsoft's initiatives are empowering users to discern when to trust AI recommendations, ensuring accuracy and reliability in AI outputs.

    Episode 3 sessions

    Aired: June 4, 2024

    Dive into the importance of globally inclusive and equitable AI, updates on AutoGen and MatterGen, explore novel new use cases for AI, and more.

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    Keynote
    Building Globally Equitable AI

    Jacki O’Neill,

    Lab Director, Microsoft Research Africa, Nairobi


    In this keynote, Jacki O'Neill discussed the importance of creating globally equitable generative AI. She addressed the technical and socio-technical challenges that must be tackled to positively transform work futures worldwide.

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    Panel Discussion
    Generative AI for Global Impact: Challenges and Opportunities

    Jacki O’Neill (Host),
    Lab Director, Microsoft Research Africa, Nairobi
    Sunayana Sitaram,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research India
    Daniela Massiceti,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research Cambridge
    Tanuja Ganu,
    Principal Research SDE Manager, Microsoft Research India


    In this panel discussion, Microsoft researchers discussed the challenges and opportunities of making AI more inclusive and impactful for everyone – from data that represents a broader range of communities and cultures, to novel use cases for AI that are globally relevant.

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    Talk
    Insights into the Challenges and Opportunities of Large Multi-Modal Models for Blind and Low Vision Users: A Case Study on CLIP

    Daniela Massiceti,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research Cambridge


    In this talk, Daniela Massiceti delved into the transformative potential of multi-modal models such as CLIP for assistive technologies. Specifically focusing on the blind/low vision community, the talk explored the current distance from realizing this potential and the advancements needed to bridge this gap.

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    Talk
    Driving Industry Evolution: Exploring the Impact of Generative AI on Sector Transformation

    Jiang Bian,
    Senior Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research Asia


    In this talk, Jiang Bian discussed how Generative AI transforms industries by bridging gaps between AI capabilities and sector needs. He showcased domain-specific foundation models and versatile AI agents, setting new industry standards.

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    Talk
    MatterGen: A generative model for materials design

    Tian Xie,
    Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research


    In this talk, Tian Xie introduced MatterGen, a generative model that creates new inorganic materials based on a broad range of property conditions required by the application, aiming to shift the traditional paradigm of materials design with generative AI.

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    Talk
    AutoGen update: Complex Tasks and Agents

    Adam Fourney,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers


    In this talk, Adam Fourney discussed the effectiveness of using multiple agents, working together, to complete complex multi-step tasks. He showcased their capability to outperform previous single-agent solutions on benchmarks like GAIA, utilizing customizable arrangements of agents that collaborate, reason, and utilize tools to achieve complex outcomes.

    Episode 2 sessions

    Aired: March 5, 2024

    Learn how AI is transforming health care and the natural sciences, the intersection of AI and society, what's new in AutoGen, and more.

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    Keynote
    The Revolution in Scientific Discovery

    Chris Bishop,

    Technical Fellow and Director, Microsoft Research AI for Science


    Chris Bishop shared the vision for how AI for science will leverage AI to model and predict natural phenomena, including the exciting real-world progress being made by the team.

    Careers in research

    Panel Discussion
    Transforming the Natural Sciences with AI

    Bonnie Kruft (Host),
    Partner Deputy Director, Microsoft Research AI for Science
    Rianne van den Berg,
    Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research AI for Science
    Tian Xie,
    Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research AI for Science
    Tristan Naumann,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Health Futures
    Kristen Severson,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research New England
    Alex Lu,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research New England


    Microsoft researchers shared their advancements in the fields of foundations models, drug discovery, material design and machine learning. They will highlight how deep learning is transforming the natural sciences.

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    Talk
    What's New in AutoGen?

    Chi Wang,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers


    This talk discussed the latest updates on AutoGen – the multi-agent framework for next generation AI applications. This includes milestones achieved, community feedback, new exciting features, and ongoing research and challenges.

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    Talk
    The Metacognitive Demands and Opportunities of Generative AI

    Lev Tankelevitch,
    Senior Behavioral Science Researcher, Microsoft Research Cambridge


    This talk explored how metacognition—the psychological capacity to monitor and regulate one's cognitive processes—provides a valuable perspective for comprehending and addressing the usability challenges of generative AI systems around prompting, assessing and relying on outputs, and workflow optimization.

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    Talk
    GigaPath: Foundation Model for Digital Pathology

    Naoto Usuyama,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Health Futures


    This talk proposed GigaPath, a novel approach for training large vision transformers for gigapixel pathology images, utilizing a diverse real-world cancer patient dataset, with the goal of laying a foundation for cancer pathology AI.

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    Talk
    Getting Modular with Language Models: Building and Reusing a Library of Experts for Task Generalization

    Alessandro Sordoni,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Montreal


    This talk shared recent efforts on building and re-using large collections of expert language models to improve zero-shot and few-shot generalization to unseen tasks.

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    Talk
    Generative AI and Plural Governance: Mitigating Challenges and Surfacing Opportunities

    Madeleine Daepp,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research Redmond

    Vanessa Gathecha,
    Research & Policy Manager, Baraza Media Lab


    This talk discussed the potential impacts and challenges of generative AI in a year with over 70 major global elections, with the aim of highlighting strategies to promote societal resilience to malign influence.

    Episode 1 sessions

    Aired: January 30, 2024

    Recent breakthroughs in AI models, new applications of AI to important scientific challenges, improving reasoning in language models with LASER, and more.

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    Image represents Episode1

    Keynote
    Research in the Era of AI

    Peter Lee,

    CVP, Microsoft Research & Incubations


    Peter Lee discussed how recent developments in AI have transformed the way Microsoft approaches research.

    Careers in research

    Panel Discussion
    AI Frontiers

    Ece Kamar,
    Managing Director, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers
    Sebastien Bubeck,
    Vice President, Microsoft GenAI
    Ahmed Awadallah,
    Senior Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers
    Ashley Llorens (host),
    CVP and Managing Director, Microsoft Research


    Microsoft AI researchers discussed frontiers in small language models and where AI research and capabilities are headed next.

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    Talk
    Improving Reasoning in Language Models with LASER: Layer-Selective Rank Reduction

    Dipendra Misra,
    Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers


    Dipendra Misra presented a surprising discovery that by merely replacing selected weight matrices in an LLM with their suitable low-rank approximation, you can significantly improve the performance of the LLM, at times by 20-30 percentage points.

    Careers in research

    Talk
    Evaluation and Understanding of Foundation Models

    Besmira Nushi,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers


    This talk discussed timely challenges and ongoing work on evaluating and in-depth understanding of large language foundation models as well as agent platforms built upon such models.

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    Talk
    Augmenting Human Cognition and Decision Making with AI

    Jake Hofman,
    Senior Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research NYC


    This talk discussed recent reserach in buildng and evaluating AI tools for helping people make better decisions and improve their own capabilities.

    Careers in research

    Talk
    Generative AI meets Structural Biology: Equilibrium Distribution Prediction

    Shuxin Zheng,
    Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research AI for Science


    Shuxin Zheng presented how his team uses Generative AI to solve a long-standing challenge in structural biology and molecular science - predicting equilibrium distribution for molecular systems.

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    Talk
    Kahani: Visual Storytelling through Culturally Nuanced Images

    Sameer Segal,
    Principal Research SDE, Microsoft Research India


    This talk discussed Kahani, a research prototype that allows the user to create visually stunning and culturally nuanced images just by describing them in their local language.

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