Microsoft’s relentless push into AI took another step forward at Ignite 2023 with the evolution of what was previously known as Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise into the more consumer-friendly moniker, Copilot.
As with all things Microsoft, however, the renaming hints at much bigger things to come.
Keeping Ideas Safe and Original
Unlike more consumer-focused AI models like ChatGPT which spew information of dubious quality and origin, Copilot has been designed from the ground up to generate content that is original and does not violate copyrights or patents.
Microsoft understands that business users demand creative tools that play by the rules. Copilot achieves this in part thanks to its tight integration across Microsoft 365 where documents and conversations provide relevant context for its AI to keep it focused and helpful.
The Evolution of Copilot
What started as Bing Chat, a simple if useful addition to Bing search results, has grown into a service that will eventually touch virtually every aspect of Microsoft 365.
Copilot draws from Bing’s knowledge graph as well as the productivity signals within Microsoft 365 to generate helpful, personalized and, yes, original contributions without requiring the user to formally invoke it.
Its integration today spans Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Teams, but this is just the beginning.
Expect Copilot to gain predictive and assistive capabilities across Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, and even LinkedIn in the coming months.
And thanks to Microsoft’s unmatched hybrid cloud capabilities, these AI models will work both online and offline while protecting customer data.
How Copilot Helps In Microsoft 365 Apps
In Word, Copilot acts as a research assistant that can summarize long documents and provide writing suggestions to help business users create content more quickly.
In Outlook, it tracks when you normally meet with people and can help schedule new meetings at optimal times.
In PowerPoint, it ensures branded templates, styles and assets are used appropriately in presentations.
And in Teams, Copilot will soon listen along during meetings and create automatic transcripts, summaries and action items.
2023 is just the beginning of Microsoft’s grand AI ambitions. By integrating Copilot across Microsoft 365, the company is demonstrating its unique ability to infuse AI into how knowledge workers communicate and collaborate.
And Microsoft is doing it the right way, with proper permissions, governance and respect for privacy. There’s no AI vendor better positioned to be an ethical leader in this space.
Business owners expecting AI to give them a competitive advantage need look no further than Microsoft Copilot.
