Artificial intelligence is coming to Microsoft in a big way, starting with Windows 11.

Calling the AI software Copilot not only means Microsoft can use this analogy endlessly, but headline writers will overuse the Copilot joke ad nauseam.

“We are entering a new era of AI, one that is fundamentally changing how we relate to and benefit from technology, says consumer chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi. “With the convergence of chat interfaces and large language models, you can now ask for what you want in natural language and the technology is smart enough to answer, create it or take action.”

By all accounts, Copilot is no Clippy, the painful assistant from Office 97, and offers real value.

Examples of what Copilot can do are impressive. As much as there was excitement about what ChatGPT could do with the open internet, what Copilot can do is find and compose information from your own specific files or folders.

Instructing Copilot to create a meeting agenda, or summarise a meeting, or scan your email and documents to create a business plan is much more useful because the source material is more specific. I can see myself using this “make me a summary” of meetings or emails often – as well as scanning docs and emails to do my homework for me.

Your everyday AI companion

“Copilot will uniquely incorporate the context and intelligence of the web, your work data and what you are doing in the moment on your PC to provide better assistance,” says Mehdi, who is a corporate vice president.

Copilot will also help “making coding more efficient with GitHub, transforming productivity at work with Microsoft 365, redefining search with Bing and Edge and delivering contextual value that works across your apps and PC with Windows,” he adds.

These capabilities will be unified into a single experience called “Microsoft Copilot, your everyday AI companion”.
The Windows 11 update on 26 September will roll out Copilot, followed by Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 later this year.

Notably, Bing features the latest DALL.E 3 model from OpenAI which creates images based on text prompts.

Microsoft also showed off new Surface devices featuring this AI enhancement, which we will unpack separately.

Never given to hyperbole – not – Microsoft thinks it will revolutionise our lives. It will “help you be more productive, spark your creativity, and meet the everyday needs of people and businesses,” says Mehdi.

Here’s hoping.