Having invested heavily in artificial intelligence, Microsoft is using AI across products, including Windows 11 and Microsoft 365. Here are some key takeaways from the latest Microsoft Build.
HELLO WINDOWS COPILOT
Microsoft has put AI in the midst of its most important offering — Windows. Windows Copilot is the digital assistant for Windows 11 to perform tasks like document summerising, suggesting music and answering questions that you may otherwise ask a search engine. It will allow easier access than the existing Bing Chat for online resources. There are many tasks you can ask Copilot to perform, like coming up with a playlist to fit your mood or making changes to a document. Windows Copilot will be available to Windows Insiders starting in June.
“We are bringing the Copilot to the biggest canvas of all, Windows,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at Microsoft Build developer conference.
It’s coming at a time when Google is building AI into services like search, Gmail and Docs. Meanwhile, Adobe has released a beta version of Photoshop that uses AI to generate new imagery. The Windows Copilot will have as home the taskbar and clicking into it will open up a Copilot sidebar.
MICROSOFT 365 COPILOT PLUG-INS
Plug-ins will allow you to add new functionality to the assistant so that you can customise it according to your needs. It will empower developers to integrate their services into Microsoft 365 Copilot, allowing them to reach more users in their everyday work environments. This integration will be facilitated by three types of plugins: ChatGPT plugins, Teams message extensions and Power Platform connectors. The early access programme will launch with more than 50 plug-ins, including offerings from Atlassian and Adobe.
CHATGPT WITH BING SEARCH
Microsoft has invested billions of dollarsinto OpenAI, so it was only a matter of time before OpenAI would make Bing the default search engine in its ChatGPT chatbot.“ChatGPT will now have a world-class search engine built-in to provide timelier and more up-to-date answers with access from the web,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer marketing chief wrote in a blog. “Now, ChatGPT answers can be grounded by search and web data and include citations so you can learn more — all directly from within chat.”
MICROSOFT EDGE AND 365 COPILOT INTEGRATION
Microsoft’s AI-powered Copilot assistant is coming to the Edge browser. The tool will reside in the browser’s sidebar and it can use the content on the site you’re viewing to help you work on projects in Microsoft 365 apps.