AI Lab projects
Learn about breakthrough AI innovation with hands-on labs, code resources, and deep dives.
JFK Files
JFK Files takes complex files including photos, handwriting, government documents, and more—then uses Cognitive Search to extract information.
Check out JFK Files
The need
In 2017, more than 34,000 pages related to the JFK assassination were released. It would take researchers months to read through this volume of documents. How can we take in all this information and any new info that’s released?
The idea
We can use Microsoft AI to understand and organize the vast flow of data—and also interpret handwritten documents and learn key topics. We can combine Azure Search and Cognitive Services together to create a solution to these problems.
The solution
Introducing Cognitive Search—an AI first approach to content understanding.
JFK Files uses Cognitive Search to pull content
Cognitive Search pulls information from a data source, and applies a set of cognitive skills to extract knowledge.
Technical details of JFK Files
Cognitive Search is powered by Azure Search with built in Cognitive Services. It pulls data from almost any data source and applies a set of composable cognitive skills which extract knowledge. This knowledge is then organized and stored in an index, enabling new experiences for exploring the data using Search.
When we first applied Cognitive Search to the JFK files, it was incredible to see what emerged. Not only could we answer so many interesting questions, we could see the answers and relationships in context with the original documents.
When we first showed the JFK files to customers, they could immediately see how to apply it back to their own data challenges and wanted to use it to answer their own questions. With Cognitive Search, it’s never been easier to bring the full power of the Cloud & AI to your data. You can get started in the portal today, and in just a few minutes have Azure Search start applying cognitive skills and extracting knowledge from your data stored in SQL, Cosmos DB, and most major document formats in blob storage.
Cognitive search architecture
Unstructured data and a storage blob contain documents and images from historical sources. Cognitive Search Skillset uses OCR, handwriting recognition, and computer vision to extract information and turn it into structured knowledge. The index can then organize and access information.
Insights and Discovery Accelerator
Unlock insights and discover intelligent connections in unstructured data. The Insights and Discovery Accelerator uses Microsoft AI to speed and scale investigations and research by helping journalists find critical content in a sea of data.
Machine Reading
Machine Reading Comprehension (MRC) answers questions about written text. Using a neural network, MRC mimics the process of human readers. Ask a question and MRC reads a document until an answer is formed.
Responsible Conversational AI
Conversational AI is a new way for companies to interact with their customers across any channel, like digital assistants, chat or social media. To be effective, conversational bots need to be developed in a way that earns people’s trust.
Gen Studio
Gen Studio is a prototype created with collaborators from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Microsoft, and MIT. Gen Studio uses AI to visually navigate The Met’s art collection.
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