If you’re fed up with chatbots mishearing you, Microsoft is making machine ears a little more attentive. Researchers from the tech giant have achieved an impressively low error rate for speech-recognition software — just 6.3 percent, according to a paper published last week. The company hopes this milestone will help refine and personalize its AI assistant, Cortana, and features like Skype Translator.
The newest error rate of Microsoft’s conversational speech-recognition system is regarded as the lowest in the industry, according to Xuedong Huang, Microsoft’s chief speech scientist. IBM meanwhile recently announced an error rate of 6.6 percent, bettering its 6.9 percent error rate from April and the 8 percent milestone that the company achieved last year. Two decades ago, the lowest error rate of a published system was more than 43 percent, Microsoft notes in a blog post.
In artificial intelligence development, researchers often model machines of off humans by equipping the systems with the abilities to speak, see, and hear. Although Microsoft’s achievement is just 0.3 percent below IBM’s, incremental advancements like these bring machines closer to human-like capabilities. In speech recognition, the human error rate is around 4 percent, according to IBM.
“This new milestone benefited from a wide range of new technologies developed by the AI community from many different organizations over the past 20 years,” Microsoft’s Huang said.
A few of these technologies include biologically inspired systems called neural networks, a training technique known as deep learning, and the adoption of graphic processing units (GPUs) to process algorithms. Over the past two years, neural networks and deep learning have enabled AI researchers to develop and train systems in advanced speech recognition, image recognition, and natural language processing. Just last year, Microsoft created image-recognition software that outperformed humans.
Although initially designed for computer graphics, GPUs are now regularly used to process sophisticated algorithms. Cortana can process up to 10 times more data using GPUs than previous methods, according to Microsoft.
With steady advances like these, repeating your question to a chatbot may be a thing of the past.
Google just dropped its latest AI model, Gemini 4 Carbon, designed to tackle complex coding jobs and cybersecurity threats. The company claims it can work through difficult engineering problems for days, finding hidden bugs and developing fixes across large codebases.
Gemini 4 Carbon also takes the top spot on Artificial Analysis' updated Intelligence Index, scoring 59 points, pushing out Claude Opus 5.5, OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, and even its own predecessor Gemini 4 Argon.
Apple has just introduced a redesigned MacBook Pro with a few bells and whistles. The focus this time around is on a thinner and lighter build, and an upgrade to a touch-sensitive OLED screen without any ugly notch. And, in case you were wondering, there is definitely a price premium to pay for these niceties, which also include a glowing Apple logo at the back. What if you wanted to get the best that Apple has to offer? Well, the numbers are finally here.
For a mere $14,549, you can get yourself the fully kitted 16-inch MacBook Pro PROLED XDR with the beefiest laptop chip that Apple has to offer, and the best memory configuration in tow. For nearly $15,000, you treat yourself to the 16-inch version of the laptop with a nano-texture glass layer on the screen to reduce reflections and glare.
Apple has unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro. The company seems a bit confused about the naming, calling it the "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display," which is tough to remember. If you look past that and review the full spec sheets, you might ask a genuine question: what are the differences between the touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions?
Given that Apple continues to sell both variants together, that's a genuine question. Luckily, you don't have to spend more time lining up the spec sheets side by side and hunting for differences hidden in the fine print. I took that bullet for you. Here's everything that's different between the PROLED XDR Display and the regular MacBook Pro.