Microsoft just announced at its Build developers conference that it is now offering new artificial intelligence (AI) tools so developers can build bots that are able to decipher natural language. The two features available in the Cortana Intelligence application program interfaces (APIs) allow robots to hear, speak, and understand by using natural communication. Meanwhile, the second tool allows developers to use any programming language to build smart chatboxes that let customers use natural language to communicate using platforms including SMS, Skype, and the web.

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Microsoft Cognitive Services and Microsoft Bot Framework are the names of the respective AI tools.

Microsoft's Twitter chatbox Tay recently became a public relations nightmare. Within a day after launch the chat box started making racist and Neo-Nazi tweets after picking them up from malicious users.

The tech giant's Seeing AI application built by a blind Microsoft software engineer named Saqib Shaikh has had greater success. It helps blind people get around in the world.  

In a demo video Shaikh use a mobile phone and Pivothead smart glasses to receive data about his environment, according to Ars Technica. When Shaikh taps the side of the eyewear to snap a photo, a digital voice tells him that a man might be doing a skateboard trick.

Later in the video the software engineer has a discussion with some people. He is given a description of their faces and emotions to learn if they are listening closely or are very bored.

However, after taking a picture Shaikh gets the good news that one middle-aged man looks surprised, and a female young adult looks happy. The app describes the general age and gender of the people around the system's user.

Then in another scene the mobile app tells Shaikh what food items are on the menu. He explains that the AI tech would have been science fiction years ago but it is now improving at a very fast rate.  

In related news Microsoft's AI bot Tay returned to Twitter on March 30, Wednesday almost a week after being pulled for racist tweets. However, it went on a spam tirade that included up to seven tweets per second within 10 minutes, according to Tech Crunch. The chatbox then went silent again.

Here's Microsoft's Seeing AI: