Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Innovation
    • Search Engines

    Microsoft Banks on Machine Learning to Boost Search, Security

    By
    Pedro Hernandez
    -
    July 3, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Microsoft machine learning

      “Mobile-first, cloud-first” may be Microsoft’s new mantra, but another term has been has been increasingly creeping into the company’s lexicon of late.

      As one of the components of Microsoft’s growing slate of smart services, machine learning is also guiding part of the company’s product strategy, according to Microsoft Research Distinguished Scientist John Platt.

      First, it helps to know how his company classifies machine learning (ML). “In general, ML converts data sets into pieces of software, known as ‘models,’ that can represent the data set and generalize to make predictions on new data,” explained Platt in Microsoft’s new Machine Learning Blog.

      A long-time researcher, Platt is an authority on Machine Learning. He has spent 17 years “creating and using machine-learning algorithms” at the company. And it was time well spent, he suggested.

      Platt describes the use of machine learning as “pervasive across Microsoft’s vast array of products.” He went on to describe the three major ways the tech heavyweight leverages machine learning, namely data mining, statistical engineering and artificial intelligence. The latter discipline uses machine learning “to emulate the human mind, to create computers that can see, hear and understand.”

      Microsoft credits machine learning with making some its most highly anticipated products possible.

      Cortana, which stole the show during this year’s Build conference, has roots in machine learning. The company demoed an early version of the digital assistant technology for Windows 8.1 live on stage, putting it through its paces with few hiccups.

      Reiterating his comments during the GigaOm Structure Data conference earlier this year, Platt said his company has enlisted the technology to build a better search engine.

      “Because Bing has such high volume of traffic, we must use automated decision-making to handle the uncertainty and ambiguity of natural language,” stated Platt. “We have exploited ML to create many components of Bing that work together to form a high-quality search engine,” he said.

      Computer security is another area that his team’s innovations are helping improve.

      “The Microsoft Malware Protection Center, collaborating with Microsoft Research, has used ML to create software to automatically detect malware, and to help analysts gain insight into malware development,” said Platt. The Microsoft Malware Protection Center recently played a role in unraveling the botnets created by the Bladabindi and Jenxcus families of malware that infected millions of PCs worldwide.

      Finally, Microsoft is using machine learning to enable computers to “see and hear.”

      The gesture-recognition software that powers Kinect was created by machine learning said Platt. “Microsoft’s speech-recognition system is based on deep learning, a form of ML model that is inspired by the structure of the brain,” he added.

      Microsoft is working on commercializing the technology in the form of a Skype Translator app that provides real-time text and spoken translation services during Skype video calls. The company plans to release a beta app for Windows 8 sometime this year.

      Avatar
      Pedro Hernandez
      Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to eWEEK and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×