Microsoft To Use ChatGPT To Provide Virtual Technical Support To Blind
Customers
Gus Alexiou
Forbwes
In a blog post published last week to mark Global Accessibility
Awareness Day, Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie
talked enthusiastically about the promise generative Ai holds for
delivering a new paradigm in technical support for blind users.
Since 2018, the tech giant has partnered with leading virtual sighted
assistance provider BeMyEyes to process technical support tickets for
visually impaired customers contacting its Disability Answer Desk. Users
with sight restrictions can connect with Microsoft’s technical support
team via video call to receive visual interpretation services related to
troubleshooting technical issues such as a laptop requiring a reboot or
the installation of software updates.
Now, powered by OpenAI’s super-advanced generative AI chatbot ChatGPT 4,
users will be able to accomplish the same using Ai rather than direct
one-to-one human communication.
The novel Ai interaction will operate through the user feeding images
through the BeMyEyes app which can then be analyzed by ChatGPT to
identify objects and images as well as decipher text. What sets ChatGPT
apart from other image description services is its ability to sustain a
back-and-forth human-like conversation with the user and answer
questions directly as well as provide contextual feedback and advice.
This may include whether a user’s hardware meets the specifications for
certain software and how to optimize the set-up based on individual user
preferences.
The new service is known as Virtual Volunteer and accompanying Microsoft
on the corporate beta test program are the likes of Hilton, P&G, Sony,
and The National Federation of the Blind.
Commenting on the initiative in her blog post, Lay-Flurry said:
“Over the past few months, the world has been captivated by the promise
of generative AI. Accessibility is important to deliver inclusive
products and is a key part of the Responsible AI principles. Responsible
AI is accessible AI. To keep accessibility at the heart of generative
AI, we have three grounding principles: AI should be accessible,
representative of people with disabilities and innovate to open doors.
Great to see examples of where generative AI can change paradigms for
disabled people. Starting with BeMyEyes.”
For visual interpretation services in particular, there is not just a
shift in technological paradigm at play but a psychological one too.
On the face of it, sighted individuals may consider Ai assistance to be
a downgrade from that of humans. After all, generative Ai tools such as
OpenAI’s ChatGPT may be evolving at an explosive rate but are certainly
not on a par with the interpersonal skills of human beings or our
abilities to detect subtleties and nuance.
Nevertheless, while sighted human assistance, be it direct or virtual,
from friends and family or service providers, certainly has its place –
there is a great deal to be said of for automated solutions too.
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