THE Microsoft has updated its Copilot artificial intelligence assistant with a more user-friendly version and included web page analysis capabilities while users browse.
The company now has “a whole army” of creative directors — including psychologists, novelists and comedians — tweaking Copilot’s tone and style to set it apart, Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of Microsoft AI, told Reuters.
In a demo of the updated Copilot, a user asked what housewarming gift to buy at a grocery store for a friend who doesn’t drink wine. After some back and forth, the Copilot said out loud, “Italian (olive) oils are hot right now. Tuscan is my favorite. Super spicy.”
The feature’s rollout, which began Tuesday, is one of the first that Suleyman has overseen since Microsoft created its division in March to focus on consumer products and technology research.
Long identified with enterprise software, Microsoft has had a much more difficult path in the consumer sector. Its search engine Bing, for example, is still surpassed by Google.
Suleyman hopes to have a bigger impact with Copilot, which launched last year into a crowded field of AI chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Copilot’s new voice features make him seem much more like an active listener, able to utter expressions like “cool!” and “huh?” said Suleyman.
The foundation of the product is Microsoft AI models, or “MAI,” plus a suite of technologies from Microsoft investee OpenAI, Suleyman said.
The executive added that users who subscribe to Copilot Pro for $20 will be able to start testing the “Think Deeper” feature, which “reasons” through choices, such as moving to one city or another.
Suleyman said an additional testing feature for subscribers, Copilot Vision, amounts to “digital pointing” – the ability for users to talk to AI about what they see in a Microsoft Edge browser. Users have to opt-in and the content they view, Microsoft promises will not be saved or used to train the AI.
These updates represent “glimpses” of AI that could be an “ever-present confidant, at your side,” Suleyman said. That’s a vision he articulated as chief executive of Inflection AI, whose top talent Microsoft hired this year.
Suleyman said that Copilot will eventually learn the context of Word documents, Windows desktops and even video games played by users.
Asked what Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thinks of the company’s AI efforts, Suleyman said Gates is excited. “He’s always asking me when Copilot will be able to read and review his emails. It’s one of his favorite resources,” said Suleyman. “We are taking care of it.”
See also: Artificial intelligence could generate “global annihilation”, experts say
This content was originally published in Copilot: Microsoft renews AI assistant with voice and “reasoning” features on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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