Microsoft released six major AI predictions for 2025 on its official website, which are: AI models will become more powerful and useful, AI Agents will fundamentally change the way we work, AI companions will support daily life, the utilization of AI resources will be more efficient, testing and customization will be key to AI development, and AI will accelerate breakthroughs in scientific research.

Among these, Microsoft specifically mentioned AI Agents in the introduction, stating that by 2025, they will autonomously and automatically complete more complex workflows to enhance efficiency in work and home life. Looking at larger application areas, from climate change to Medical Care, AI will play a vital role.

1. AI models will become more powerful and useful.

In the past year, AI models have made substantial progress in reasoning efficiency and functionality, with many cutting-edge models capable of completing various complex tasks. In 2025, AI models are expected to perform excellently across more tasks.

For example, models with advanced reasoning capabilities, like OpenAI o1, can solve complex problems through human-like logical steps, playing roles in fields such as science, coding, mathematics, law, and medicine, performing tasks like contract comparison, code generation, and executing multi-step workflows.

Model innovation relies not only on improved reasoning capabilities, but data management and post-training optimization are also crucial. Microsoft's Phi model series indicates that high-quality data can also enhance AI model performance and reasoning capabilities.

Orca and Orca 2 demonstrate the role of synthetic data in post-training optimization of small language models, enabling them to reach the performance level of previously large language models and performing better on specific tasks. These advancements will create more practical AI experiences by 2025, including applications in AI Agents.

2. AI Agents will revolutionize the way work is done.

AI Agents are AI products capable of autonomously performing tasks or automatically executing tasks on behalf of users. They can be software programs or AI assistants integrated into various devices. These Agents can understand natural language instructions, complete complex tasks through learning and reasoning, and interact naturally with users.

Microsoft states that nearly 70% of employees in Fortune 500 companies have used Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot to handle a large amount of repetitive daily work, such as automatically sorting emails and taking notes or summaries during Teams meetings.

By 2025, the next generation of AI Agents will have more powerful functions, handling various complex tasks in a better way thanks to advancements in memory, reasoning, and multimodal capabilities. With more advanced memory and reasoning abilities, AI Agents will have stronger memory functions, able to remember users' historical behaviors, preferences, and work habits to provide more personalized and accurate services.

At the same time, their reasoning abilities will also be enhanced, enabling them to better understand complex situations and business logic, making more reasonable and efficient decisions. For example, in supply chain management, Agents can predict changes in inventory demand based on historical data and real-time information, adjusting procurement and production plans in advance to avoid inventory backlogs or shortages.

Multimodal interaction and collaboration will allow Agents to support various interaction methods, including text, images, and voice, enabling users to communicate with Agents in a more natural and convenient manner. At the same time, the collaborative abilities of Agents will be strengthened, allowing them to work together like human team members, sharing information and resources to complete complex tasks.

For example, in a large project, different Agents can each take responsibility for project planning, progress tracking, resource allocation, and risk assessment, and exchange data and feedback in real-time to ensure the smooth progress of the project.

In addition, at the "Microsoft Ignite 2024" Global Developer Conference held last November, Microsoft integrated a large number of commercial AI Agents into its flagship products such as Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365, laying an important foundation for the explosive growth of Agents in 2025.

Charles Lamanna, Vice President responsible for Microsoft Business and Industry Copilot, believes that AI Agents will be a new type of application in the AI era, similar to how we use different applications to perform various tasks, AI Agents will completely change the way we work and our business processes.

3. AI companions will support daily life.

In 2025, Microsoft Copilot will act as an AI companion in daily life, helping to simplify and prioritize everyday tasks, such as automatically managing large amounts of data, freeing up personal time while ensuring privacy, data, and security.

Copilot will continuously evolve, gaining more new features. For example, Copilot Daily can provide news and weather summaries in a familiar voice; Copilot Vision can understand the web pages users browse, interact with them, answer questions, and provide suggestions.

It can also help users make decisions, such as searching for matching Furniture and planning layout schemes when setting up a new apartment. In the future, the AI experience will be more precise, with enhanced emotional intelligence, allowing for smoother interactions.

4. The utilization of AI resources will be more efficient.

AI consumes a large amount of resources during its operation, and innovative solutions are addressing this challenge. For example, although the workload of Global Datacenters in 2020 was nine times that of 2010, the power demand of Datacenters only increased by 10%.

This is because Microsoft is collaborating with companies such as AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA to improve the efficiency of its Hardware, including its custom silicon series, Azure Maia and Cobalt, as well as efficient cooling heat exchangers designed for large-scale AI systems.

In the next few years, new Datacenters that support AI will be put into operation, using no water resources for cooling, and the company will also expand its use of ultra-efficient liquid cooling systems.

These innovative solutions are all aimed at making AI infrastructure more efficient and sustainable by 2025. As Microsoft helps build more efficient AI infrastructure, it will continue to invest in and use low-carbon Building Materials, including near-zero carbon Steel, concrete substitutes, and cross-laminated timber.

Microsoft will also continue to invest in and use carbon-free Energy sources, such as Wind Energy, Geothermal Energy, nuclear energy, and CECEP Solar Energy. The company is making long-term investments to bring more carbon-free Electrical Utilities into the grids it operates and continues to advocate for the expansion of Global clean energy solutions.

5. Testing and customization are key to developing AI.

Testing defines and evaluates the risks in AI, which is crucial for responsibly building AI. The development of AI in 2025 can be summarized in two words - testing and customization.

If risks and threats can be tested, it helps to address or mitigate them. This means, for example, detecting and resolving inaccurate AI 'hallucination' responses. Part of Microsoft's ongoing efforts to build safe AI applications is the development of rigorous and comprehensive testing. In addition to assessing internal threats, testing will improve in identifying external and increasingly complex attacks.

6. AI will accelerate breakthroughs in scientific research.

AI has already had a tremendous impact across the globe, driving advancements in various fields from supercomputing to weather forecasting. It is pushing historic breakthroughs in scientific research and is expected to unleash new capabilities in areas such as natural sciences, sustainable materials, drug discovery, and human health.

For example, in 2024, Microsoft Research made breakthroughs that allow researchers to explore some of the most challenging biomolecular science problems in the world with unprecedented speed and accuracy, including the discovery of life-saving drugs. Utilizing AI-driven protein simulation systems, researchers found a new method (AI2BMD) to simulate biomolecular dynamics.

AI2BMD can help scientists solve previously challenging problems and promote biomedical research such as protein design, enzyme engineering, and drug discovery.

Ashley Llorens, Vice President and Managing Director of Microsoft Research, stated that one of the most exciting things in 2025 will be the use of AI in scientific research and how it will drive progress in solving some of the world's most pressing issues. AI will continue to drive research innovation, unleashing huge application potential for humanity and organizations globally.

Source: AIGC Open Community, original title: "Microsoft Releases AI Predictions for 2025: AI Agents Will Revolutionize the Way We Work"