Microsoft Copilot: Your everyday AI companion

Ready for Microsoft’s Copilot?
The hype around Microsoft’s Copilot solutions has been growing since the company first announced its “Copilot roadmap” in March 2023. For a while, the only way to access Copilot was to sign up as a beta tester for the early access versions of the tools.

Now, however, most versions of Copilot are available, from Copilot for Windows to Copilot in Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot. There’s even a Copilot solution for Microsoft Viva on the horizon.

What is Microsoft Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot, or just “Copilot,” is the AI assistant created by Microsoft to support users in various parts of the Microsoft ecosystem.

It was developed using the latest version of the OpenAI LLM technology and allows professionals to bring generative AI into their everyday workflows. When Microsoft introduced Copilot, the tech giant promised to integrate it into virtually every aspect of its technology stack.

The Microsoft Copilot Lineup:
The core “Microsoft Copilot” solution is now the name used for the service previously known as Bing Chat. This generative AI chatbot can help users with tasks like coding, finding answers to questions, generating images, and writing emails.

The other Copilots in the lineup span Microsoft’s various applications and tools, offering specific services and features. Current options include:

Windows Copilot: An AI assistant streamlining tasks related to PC settings and web browsing. It can turn on your computer’s dark room, organize windows, help you shop for products, and assist with internet browsing via Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Released fully in November 2023, Copilot for Microsoft 365 brings generative AI to all your Microsoft apps, such as Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and Word. It can summarize and draft emails, generate Python visualizations in Excel, and optimize digital workflows. The Microsoft 365 plan for Copilot also includes Copilot Studio, Microsoft’s low-code generative AI tool.

Security Copilot: Microsoft’s AI tool for security workflows, integrated with the company’s existing security resources like Microsoft Sentinel, Intune, and Defender Threat Intelligence. It helps companies track and respond to cyberattacks with efficiency.

Dynamics 365 Copilot and Copilot for Sales and Service: Microsoft’s complete range of copilot tools for customer-facing businesses. Dynamics 365 Copilot integrates with your CRM and ERP systems. The Copilots for sales and service offer intelligent tools to support teams in their day-to-day workflows.

How Much Does Copilot Cost?
Different types of Copilot come with additional fees but the core Microsoft Copilot service (Bing Chat) is free, as is Microsoft Copilot for Windows and Microsoft 365 Chat.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 has an add-on fee of $30 per user per month on top of the price you pay for your Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

Windows 10 users are not left behind:
Until recently, Copilot was only available in Windows 11 but Microsoft has recently decided to let Windows 10 users in on the platform. It’s no surprise that Copilot is coming to Windows 10, though. It’s still an incredibly popular operating system, with Windows 11 adoption lagging behind.

I asked Copilot to help me describe Copilot to a 10th grade student and here’s what it said:
“Copilot is a smart tool that can help you with many tasks on your computer, such as writing, searching, learning, and creating. It can understand what you want to do by chatting with you in natural language, and then give you the best answers or solutions from the web or its own knowledge.

For example, if you want to write an essay, you can ask Copilot to summarize a topic for you, or generate some sentences based on your outline. If you want to learn something new, you can ask Copilot to explain a concept to you or show you some examples or exercises. If you want to create something fun, you can ask Copilot to make a poem, a song, a story, or even graphic art for you. Copilot is like having a friendly and helpful teacher, assistant, and companion all in one.”

I still use OpenAI’s ChatGPT on a regular basis but I intend to use Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Bard as well to see who progresses faster in the AI race. I recommend everyone get their feet wet with AI so as not to be left behind.

Thanks to The Verge for some of this information:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/22/23972257/microsoft-windows-10-copilot-feature-release-preview-testing