Azure OpenAI Service:
How Does It Work?

Since 2019, Microsoft has been investing in the California-based artificial intelligence company OpenAI. The goal of this partnership? To make OpenAI's AI models (such as GPT-4, ChatGPT, and Dall-E) accessible within the Microsoft 365 work environment. In 2023, this became a reality with the launch of Azure OpenAI Service, a solution that enables organizations to leverage OpenAI's models directly within the Azure portal to create AI applications tailored to their use cases. So, how can you benefit from this technology? Mozzaik provides an overview.

Azure and OpenAI Service: Definitions

OpenAI is a U.S.-based company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI). Initially founded as a non-profit organization, OpenAI is now a company 49% owned by Microsoft. The tech giant from Redmond has invested no less than $13 billion in OpenAI. OpenAI's main AI solutions include:

Advanced language models GPT-3 and GPT-4
ChatGPT, a conversational agent based on GPT language models
Dall-E, an image generator
Sora, a video generation model
Codex, a code generator

OpenAI uses Microsoft Azure's infrastructure to host and train its AI models. But what is Azure Service? Microsoft Azure is a secure cloud platform developed by Microsoft. It includes over 200 cloud products and services that developers can use to create solutions tailored to each organization's needs. Microsoft Azure offers a wide range of services designed to meet various business requirements, including:

Application development
Cloud migration and modernization
Data and analytics
Hybrid cloud and infrastructure
Internet of Things (IoT)
Security and governance
Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Azure OpenAI Service: AI Within Microsoft 365

Thanks to Azure OpenAI Service, businesses operating within the Microsoft 365 environment can now develop applications that integrate OpenAI's models, directly from the Azure portal using an API. This is a significant time-saver for developers and a security asset for organizations.

OpenAI Data: Integrate ChatGPT Into Your Microsoft 365 Environment

Azure OpenAI enables organizations to easily create customized AI assistants within their Microsoft 365 environment, leveraging their own data. The main advantage? Developers do not need to retrain or fine-tune OpenAI's generative AI models to work with internal data. The result is significant time savings and solutions tailored to employees' needs.

To ensure the generative AI application delivers even more precise responses to teams, programmers can define specific internal sources for the AI to reference when answering queries. This is achieved using the Azure AI Search service. This solution, based on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), allows the internal conversational agent to formulate responses solely based on information contained in specific documents (e.g., internal procedure manuals) or within a predefined corpus of documents.

Security: Data Processing by Azure OpenAI Services

Azure OpenAI ensures the security of its services and the internal data accessed by OpenAI's models. The data you wish to use through AI models is stored and processed by Microsoft via Azure OpenAI. It is not available to OpenAI or other Microsoft clients. Specifically, Azure OpenAI processes several types of data:

Prompts submitted by users and content generated by services (text, images, etc.)
Data uploaded by users via the File API or vector store for specific functionalities, such as model fine-tuning
Message history and other content when users employ Azure OpenAI features like the Assistants API Threads
Augmented data included in or via prompts, such as information retrieved from a URL present in the prompt itself
Training data provided by users in the form of prompt-response pairs, enabling OpenAI models to be fine-tuned

Azure OpenAI uses this data to generate responses through its AI models without retaining prompts or outputs. However, data may be temporarily stored when certain features requiring storage are used (e.g., Threads in the Assistants API). Regardless, data processing is secure, leveraging mechanisms such as encryption. Data is also subject to a content filter to detect material that may violate usage terms.

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Practical Use Cases for Azure OpenAI Service

All OpenAI models are now available in Azure OpenAI Service: GPT-4, GPT-3, GPT-3.5, ChatGPT, Dall-E, Codex. With this technology, businesses can implement AI tools tailored to their operational needs. Even better, the Azure OpenAI portal allows organizations to integrate these solutions into their Microsoft 365 environment simply and securely.

Conversational AI

One of the primary use cases for Azure OpenAI Service is the creation of integrated conversational AI tools, for example, within a company's intranet or website. Specifically, this involves deploying chatbots that employees, customers, or business partners can interact with in natural language to obtain answers to their questions. The advantage of such virtual assistants? They enhance the employee and user experience and increase worker productivity.

Would you like to improve the efficiency and employee experience for your sales teams, technical support, or HR department? Discover Mozzaik's Genius. This solution, integrated into Microsoft 365, allows you to easily create customized AI assistants tailored to specific use cases. For example, Genius HR addresses employee questions about leave and compensation policies. Based on ChatGPT-4 and using Azure OpenAI Service, Genius is one of the best generative AI tools to integrate into your Digital Workplace.

AI-Powered Knowledge Management

Azure OpenAI Service can also be used to enhance document management and access to internal knowledge. With this solution, companies can develop applications that enable employees to quickly find information within their Digital Workplace. Even better, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) allows defining a search scope (e.g., a set of documents) from which the AI can retrieve information to respond accurately to user queries.

Mozzaik's Genius naturally includes the RAG technique. Genius AI assistants can leverage augmented search to extract only the most relevant information for each use case from the Microsoft 365 environment. The result? Consistent and tailored responses to the specific needs of various employee categories. For instance, the Genius Support Assistant can base its recommendations exclusively on the organization's technical documentation stored in its digital workplace.

Content Creation

Unsurprisingly, Azure OpenAI Service enables deploying AI models to facilitate text or image content creation, such as GPT-4 or Dall-E. This helps employees draft emails and reports faster, create presentations more smoothly, or produce visuals in just a few clicks to illustrate communication materials.

For example, Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant based on Azure OpenAI Service and GPT-4, can summarize an email exchange history in Outlook and suggest an appropriate response. Similarly, Mozzaik's Genius Personal Assistant can leverage knowledge within the organization's Digital Workplace to help employees draft relevant emails or texts efficiently.

Azure OpenAI Service: Key Takeaways

With Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft 365 provides businesses with the opportunity to deploy OpenAI's AI models within their digital work environment. However, to implement viable, secure, and cost-effective AI tools fully integrated into their Microsoft 365 Digital Workplace, organizations have two options:

Make significant investments in developing custom bots
Subscribe to turnkey (yet customizable) solutions tailored to specific use cases, such as Mozzaik365's Genius

Want to learn more about Mozzaik's Genius? Click here to discover our AI assistant based on Azure OpenAI Service, integrated into your Mozzaik365 Digital Workplace and designed to meet your primary use cases.

FAQ

Azure OpenAI Service: How Does It Work?

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