In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a huge overhaul. They also introduced new features which are rolling out “now” to the consumer version of Microsoft Copilot. These updates set out to help them differentiate Copilot from ChatGPT. They aim to bring a more human-centric approach to the user experience.
These experiences are coming to Apple iOS, Android, the Copilot web experience at copilot.microsoft.com and in Copilot in Windows. Microsoft have also announced that Copilot is coming to WhatsApp. It will “help users there experience natural and engaging interactions with Copilot”. Interesting.
This is not available for me yet (I have a Copilot Pro license). Microsoft says that until this rolls out, users will see a message like below. This message pre-advertises the new Copilot experience that is coming “soon”.
In this blog, I’ll cover the key changes, the reasons for change and some of the coolest new features. I’ll also share my take on this and what they mean for users.
New Microsoft Copilot Video
Oh yes, there’s also a Microsoft “sizzle” video below if you don’t want to read my ramblings:
The Human Side of Gen AI?
At the heart of Microsoft’s vision is the belief that technology should enhance human well-being and support our unique qualities. Microsoft say that the revamped Copilot has been designed with this philosophy in mind. It ensures that every interaction is intuitive, personalised, and ultimately beneficial to the user.
Now, this is kind of the part of Copilot that was missing in my view. Other Gen AI tools now do this. They are essentially giving Copilot (for consumer – not Microsoft 365 Copilot) to “get to know you” – this is how they describe it:
“Copilot will be there for you, in your corner, by your side and always strongly aligned with your interests. It understands the context of your life, while safeguarding your privacy, data and security, remembering the details that are most helpful in any situation. It gives you access to a universe of knowledge, simplifying and decluttering the daily barrage of information, and offering support and encouragement when you want it. …..Over time it’ll adapt to your mannerisms and develop capabilities built around your preferences and needs. We are not creating a static tool so much as establishing a dynamic, emergent and evolving interaction. It will provide you with unwavering support to help you show up the way you really want in your everyday life, a new means of facilitating human connections and accomplishments alike.”
Mustafa Suleyman, Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft AINew Copilot Features
The new Copilot experience will be far more than an UI facelift when it arrives. (I don’t have it yet.) It will come with brand new features that promise to re-innovate the ways in which we can use Copilot in our daily lives. The new features include:
- Copilot Voice: This allows users to interact with their devices using natural language, making technology more accessible and user-friendly. This means you will be able ro engage in natural conversations with Copilot. The current method is more just speech to text and doesn’t really feel like a conversation. This is rolling out “now” for initially available in English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US with more regions and languages coming soon.
- Copilot Daily: Delivered as “cards”, this will provide personalised insights and recommendations to help users manage their day-to-day tasks more efficiently. Microsoft say this content will only be served by trusted news sources – the cite: Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst Magazines, USA TODAY Network and Financial Times, with more “local sources” coming soon. As Copilot gets to know you, it will bring personalsed feeds and also allow users to have controls over what is served up. This starts rolling out now in the US and UK with other countries following soon.
- Copilot Vision: which looks so cool, will leverage Microsoft’s vision and seeing AI tools to offer enhanced visual recognition capabilities, making it easier to organise and find information. Microsoft say that this work on all websites and documents. They have taken steps to put “boundaries” on the types of websites Copilot Vision can engage. It also won’t work on pay-walled content initially. It won’t work on sensitive content initially either. This is to protect “users’ and creators’ interests” and copyright. This will be a Copilot Pro Feature and will roll out to US customers first…
- Think Deeper: This is similar to Deep Search in Bing, whereby Copilot will be able to reason through more complex questions. As such it will take longer to respond and may ask for clarifications before responding. This is really designed to allow Copilot to go beyond basic responses. It will help with more in-depth discussions. It will also aid in challenging questions and research. This is in experimental phase and will more details will come.
Wrap up
The new and enhanced Copilot user experience is all about making Copilot easier to use. It feels more natural (less techy). It brings some new capabilities and personalisation. This makes the experience far more “personal”. It’s great to see more work being done to create a more seamless and up-to-date experience. This allows them to compete better with Google, Meta and Apple in this fast paced Gen AI development.
This is great to see and needed as update and adoption of Copilot for consumers is nowhere near the adoption of Chat GPT. Part of Microsoft’s “problem” is they are not great at consumer marketing. Copilot (IMO) offers far more value than ChatGPT and includes many features (as standard) that you need to pay for in ChatGPT.
Will this make you revisit and retry Copilot? Let me know your thoughts?