Microsoft Introduces Be My AI to Assist Users with Visual Impairments

Technology giants are using Be My Eyes' visual assistant tool to help blind users quickly solve problems without the need for human customer service.

Microsoft is working with Be My Eyes to provide a better customer service experience for its visually impaired users through collaboration with OpenAI's ChatGPT-4. Be My Eyes is a company that helps visually impaired individuals complete daily tasks with the assistance of volunteers.

Microsoft is integrating Be My Eyes' digital visual assistant tool, Be My AI, into its disability Q&A platform, allowing visually impaired Microsoft users to solve technical issues or perform tasks such as software updates without the need for human assistance. After testing the tool with Microsoft users earlier this year, Be My Eyes reported that the tool resolves inquiries on average within four minutes, which is half the average call time with a human. Additionally, only 10% of users choose to speak with human customer service after interacting with the AI tool.

Be My AI uses OpenAI's GPT-4 visual model to generate descriptions of photos taken by users, such as instructions for setting up a new computer or product labels. Through AI-based natural language dialogue, the tool also provides context-based suggestions and guidance to help users with various issues.

"Microsoft is proud to be the first company to integrate Be My AI into our customer service for our disability Q&A platform. The integration of Be My AI creates an innovative, fast, and efficient way to provide Microsoft assistance to disabled customers," said Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Microsoft's Chief Accessibility Officer. "By combining Microsoft's expertise with Be My AI's innovative solution, we are empowering people with disabilities with independence."

This announcement comes a week after OpenAI hosted its first developer conference. The company revealed that it now has over 2 million developers, with 92% of them being Fortune 500 companies. The company also introduced new features, such as a no-code tool for creating custom versions of ChatGPT.

Be My Eyes was also briefly mentioned. "OpenAI is proud to collaborate with Be My Eyes," said Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI. "They have significantly improved the quality of life for individuals with low vision or blindness using our AI models."

Microsoft's collaboration with Be My Eyes is the latest move towards making its products more accessible. At the Microsoft Ability Summit held earlier this year, the company introduced the "Accessibility Checker" for Microsoft 365, which provides real-time feedback on the accessibility of content being written.