Microsoft: AI for Accessibility

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Microsoft has announced the launch of an AI-based accessibility initiative to build better technology for people with disabilities. The company's CEO, Satya Nadella kicked off Microsoft's annual conference for software developers where he mentioned about the new "AI for Accessibility" initiative

Microsoft's President Brad Smith said that in an effort to empower people to enjoy their independence and employment, the company will look to accelerate the development of AI tools. The accessibility need could be related to vision or deafness or something like autism or dyslexia.


Microsoft has already experimented with tools such as "Seeing AI" free smartphone app that uses computer vision and narration to navigate people who are blind or have low vision. The company's translation tool helps deaf users with real-time captioning of conversations

Microsoft Annual Conference



The conference which held at Seattle, which is close to the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The idea behind the conference is to get more people excited about developing apps and other services for the social good and also for their large market potential. The Build conference would also feature partnerships with drone company DJI & chipmaker Qualcomm.

The Artificial Intelligence domain has taken off at a great pace in recent times. However, along with world-class technology, various services that use AI have come under harsh criticism for compromising the privacy of people. The conference is an opportunity for Microsoft to address the problem and focus on building AI for social good. It could help in countering all the privacy and ethical concerns that have risen over AI and other new technology. Now the time had come to not only ask what computers can do but also ask what computers should do. Over 6,000 people have already registered and most of them are developers who build apps for Microsoft products.

AI a Responsible makeover

Sure, there are lots of developer tools, neural net processing, chatbots, data tools and a new, non-consumer version of Kinect that will help drones fly with Azure cloud services. But what was refreshing was when Nadella unveiled Microsoft’s AI for Accessibility program. It will use $25 million over five years to fund AI projects by developers looking to assist people with disabilities



Sure, Microsoft has done some of this already with tech like Seeing AI, which helps narrate the world for those with impaired vision. But what Nadella had going for him on stage at Build was timing. When Facebook is holding up AI as a defence against people taking advantage of its platform and Google’s AI approach is viewed, by some, as a potential invasion of privacy, funding these project makes Microsoft look like a charity in comparison. 


Microsoft looks like a charity in comparison. Nadella also discussed the importance of fair, unbiased AI. Artificial intelligence, he said, is built with the bias of creators. Microsoft intends to use computing to “de-bias” AI to make it fair and ethical.AI a big part of the future of Microsoft, and a main pillar of the company.


Sure, Microsoft has done some of this already with tech like Seeing AI, which helps narrate the world for those with impaired vision. But what Nadella had going for him on stage at Build was timing. When Facebook is holding up AI as a defence against people taking advantage of its platform and Google’s AI approach is viewed, by some, as a potential invasion of privacy, funding these project makes Microsoft look like a charity in comparison. 



Microsoft looks like a charity in comparison. Nadella also discussed the importance of fair, unbiased AI. Artificial intelligence, he said, is built with the bias of creators. Microsoft intends to use computing to “de-bias” AI to make it fair and ethical.AI a big part of the future of Microsoft, and a main pillar of the company.

Who helped Nadella became more Empathetic

The initiative is led by Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie, but the project also hits home for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. His son Zain suffered in-utero asphyxiation which caused severe brain damage and left him with cerebral palsy. Nadella detailed the impact his son’s birth and life has had on him in his new book, “Hit Refresh,” and spoke about it at the 2017 GeekWire Summit.  


Nadella credits his wife — who not long after her C-section, was driving Zain to doctor’s appointments — with getting pull him out of his funk. Watching his son’s medical care also underscored the responsibility Microsoft carries to make sure it’s technology gets the job done

“One day I was sitting waiting for him to come out of his surgery and all of the equipment around me and all of it was Windows. And I was saying, ‘Hey, it all better work.’ It just gave me an understanding of the responsibility of a platform company, a technology company.”



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