What is Microsoft Copilot?
It’s hardly gone unnoticed that AI – short for Artificial Intelligence – is the next big step in technology. At this point, we’ve already become familiar with AI tools like ChatGPT, SEO.ai, and Bing Chat.
Each of these tools is designed to optimize workflows in various ways and has already become an integrated part of many companies’ daily operations.
Microsoft Copilot is one of the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence, and it’s a tool I’m genuinely excited to see officially integrated into Microsoft’s suite of applications.
How Microsoft Copilot works
Microsoft Copilot is an AI tool that works across well-known Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and Teams. The tool is built on many of the concepts we already know from ChatGPT – a tool Microsoft has also played a significant role in developing.
Copilot works in a similar way to ChatGPT: it responds to text-based prompts. Since Copilot will be integrated into Microsoft programs, users can expect that their prompts will work seamlessly across all the applications.
Here are a few examples of tasks Copilot can handle within individual programs as well as across documents and data:
- Copilot can analyze your Excel spreadsheets. In sheets with large amounts of data, you can ask it to visualize information using charts or models. You can also ask it to present specific outcomes from your data – such as sales results from a given quarter.
- The tool can create creative and meaningful PowerPoint presentations based on specific prompts, for example referring to Word documents, media files, meeting summaries, Excel charts, and more.
- During a Teams meeting, you can ask the tool to generate a summary. Relevant information from a Teams meeting can then be turned into an email and automatically sent via Outlook.
Optimizing working hours
In Microsoft’s presentation of Copilot, it’s clear that this AI tool is designed to optimize workflows in any business. The team behind Copilot emphasizes that the data generated by the tool should naturally be reviewed and revised by the person who submitted the prompt.
The purpose of Copilot isn’t to take over tasks entirely, but rather to reduce the time spent on time-consuming activities like creating engaging presentations or generating charts.
According to Microsoft, special attention has been paid to security, privacy, and user feedback during the development of this AI tool, with functions that allow it to generate alternative results for specific prompts.
Business chat – your personal chatbot
In addition to Copilot’s integration in applications like Word and Excel, Microsoft has also introduced a new feature: “Business Chat.”
Business Chat can be compared to a personal chatbot that gathers data from all your Microsoft programs. In other words, it connects to your documents, spreadsheets, calendar, emails, etc., and allows you to issue specific prompts that span across programs.
For example, you can request a brief summary of recent Teams meetings with your suppliers, the key points from an email thread with a client, or a quick overview of your colleague’s latest PowerPoint presentation.
In this way, Business Chat is similar to ChatGPT – but the difference is that the prompts you give the chatbot are specifically related to your work and your data.
When will Copilot be available?
Are you as excited as I am about when we’ll get access to this new AI tool?
According to Microsoft, Copilot is still being tested by selected companies and is being improved through ongoing feedback. The goal is for the tool to be fully tested and ready for business use at the time of launch.
We should also expect that not all of Copilot’s features will be free – however, the price for the AI tool has not yet been announced.
Comments