Blue Ridge Technology

Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, is already a pretty useful tool for some people and some functions. What Is Copilot, Again? If you could use a quick refresher, here you go: Copilot is Microsoft’s generative AI assistant. It works a lot like other generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, but the difference is that Copilot is built into the Microsoft ecosystem. That means it understands many of your Microsoft apps, like OneDrive, Word, Outlook, and Excel, and it can actually do things inside those apps. ChatGPT and the rest are usually confined to a web browser tab, and they can’t reach out and interact with your files and systems directly. (And hey, you might not want them to: that level of access seems kind of intrusive.) But in a way, Microsoft already has that level of access: it’s the company you’re paying for cloud storage, hosting, office applications, and more. So giving the company’s AI assistant access to all that same stuff isn’t that big of a jump. So, li...

Real-Time Audio Translation Microsoft is previewing a new feature in its Edge browser, and this one is truly exciting: real-time audio translation on videos. Language has always created barriers in business. This is especially noticeable as our world has shrunk and become more globalized. A couple of decades ago, language barriers rarely mattered until a business reached a certain scale and went international. But today, we can all access nearly anything, nearly instantly — including a ton of content that isn’t in the language(s) we speak. This new feature could make that kind of video content instantly accessible to you. And it can make English-language content instantly accessible for others who don’t speak or don’t prefer English. How AI Audio Translation Works The name is long and not all that clear, so allow us to clear it up for you. This feature uses AI to do ## things in quick succession: AI analyzes the audio track of a video. Generative AI breaks down what that audio is about...

Fake Apps with Malware Fake apps loaded down with malware are on the rise…again. What’s worse, new techniques are getting those malicious apps more and more visible, so that unsuspecting team members could easily download them without noticing anything’s wrong. This time there are two distinct elements you need to understand so you can keep your company and data safe. We’ll discuss the apps themselves first, then we’ll dive into SEO poisoning (the technique the bad guys are using to get these apps found). Problem #1: The Apps Themselves So what exactly are these apps? They look like apps your team needs to get work done, like WhatsApp, Chrome, and so on. Even apps we look at as extra secure, like Signal or Telegram, are getting spoofed. Of course, these aren’t the real versions of those apps. They won’t work well or fully, so eventually it might become obvious that something nefarious is happening. But maybe not: it could be that an unsuspecting user tries to install and open the app, ...

AI-Powered Malware AI-powered malware is a growing threat, one that businesses like yours need to take seriously. More and more attacks are built and executed using AI, which is changing the way these attacks look and act. This week, we’re exploring what these AI-driven changes mean for your business, plus how smart businesses are fighting fire with artificial-intelligence fire. Let’s dive in! The Scope of the Problem Is Overstated, But Real First up we need to clarify: recent reports that some 80% of malware is built using AI are all based on a research paper that has been criticized and now retracted . So the last thing we want to do is propagate bad information. There’s no clear evidence that a whopping 4 out of 5 malware attacks are now AI-driven — but there’s plenty of evidence that bad actors are using AI to soup up their attacks. Think of the consumer-grade AI tools you’ve heard of and maybe even used, like ChatGPT for chat and Claude Sonnet for coding. These tools have safeguar...

Fluid Dictation Microsoft is making dictation easier and smoother in Windows 11…but only if you have the right hardware. Here’s what you need to know. What Is Fluid Dictation? Fluid Dictation is Microsoft’s newest version of dictation (the technology that listens to you speak and turns your speech into typed text), now powered by artificial intelligence. Well, we should say by even more AI, since AI has been a part of dictation for a while now. With Fluid Dictation, Microsoft says its dictation will get even better, intelligently eliminating verbal clutter (like um s and uh s, clearing your throat, repeating words, or misspeaking). And it’s going to do this using on-device AI, which means everything happens without recording your voice or sending that recording to servers somewhere. Some Context on Dictation Up Till Today Before we go further with Fluid Dictation, let’s back up a minute. If you haven’t used dictation features in the last few years, you should give them another shot. T...