What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? The Inside Scoop on This New AI

However you stumbled upon this, you have found yourself at quite possibly the most valuable blog on artificial intelligence in business productivity. 

Let me tell you why: Back in 2023, Microsoft unveiled plans for a new AI assistant called Microsoft 365 Copilot. Ambitious, right? 

At first, it sounded almost too good to be true – an AI helper that could chat with you, understand your work needs, and help you write, analyze data, make presentations…basically do all the tedious productivity tasks that suck up your time each day. 

Some skeptics thought there was no way Microsoft could pull off something this complex. But I knew the potential was HUGE if they succeeded. Think about how much this could change day-to-day work! 

Now fast forward to late 2023, when Microsoft officially rolls out Copilot. And as of June 2024, Copilot is already blowing minds by helping people communicate, collaborate and get things done in their work apps like never before. 

In this guide, I’m going to cut through the hype and give you the inside scoop on what Microsoft 365 Copilot can really do.  

What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

In 2023, Microsoft launched Copilot, an AI assistant integrated into Microsoft 365 designed to boost productivity for knowledge workers. Available as an add-on to subscription plans or a standalone app, Copilot helps users generate ideas and content, automate tasks, and collaborate more efficiently using the power of large language models.

As leaders in business productivity software, Microsoft is positioning Copilot as the next evolution of its suite of tools aimed at helping professionals “do more with less.” For workers overwhelmed by information overload and constant connectivity, Copilot serves as a built-in helping hand.

In this blog post, we’ll explore what Copilot is, how it works, key features, pricing options, and the broader vision behind it in the context of the future of work in 2024 and beyond. Read on to discover how this new product can streamline your workflow.

The AI Behind Copilot

Copilot harnesses a large language model framework with billions of parameters trained by AI experts at Microsoft Research using public conversational data sets as well as private enterprise data. This helps Copilot develop strong language processing capabilities alongside business domain expertise to serve knowledge workers effectively.

The model uses deep neural networks with attention mechanisms allowing it to intake information, find patterns, weigh relevancies between words and concepts, and generate coherent continuations. In other words, it can ingest what you write and provide relevant suggestions to extend your thinking or writing.

Microsoft rigorously developed guardrails at each layer of the AI through technical solutions as well as training data reliance to ensure suggestions are helpful, harmless, and honest. Ongoing monitoring aims to improve the model’s quality and safety.

Key Features of Microsft 365 Copilot

Writing Assistance 

Copilot excels at accelerating writing across different contexts from emails to documents to spreadsheets. Copilot observes what you write as you compose content and suggests full sentences and paragraphs to augment drafts.

The sophisticated language model allows Copilot to capture tone, style, and vocabulary that relates to the document goals and audience. It also maintains context between suggestions, demonstrating understanding.

You remain in control to accept, ignore, refine, or delete proposals as you see fit. Copilot learns from that ongoing feedback, strengthening its adaptive support.

For example, say you’re drafting an email update to a client on a project. Copilot may suggest a sentence summarizing progress or introducing next steps based on details you provided. Its context-aware assistance aims to make writing more efficient.

Content Creation 

Beyond writing help, Copilot can generate whole pieces of content like reports, presentations, tables, and more based on some initial prompting.

For instance, describe what you need in a few bullets like “Market trends presentation; emerging crypto demand from Millennials; address new payment platforms and apps; 12 slides with images” and Copilot will get to work.

You can then review, edit, add to, and rearrange the AI-generated draft to perfectly match your vision. This kickstarts content creation so you don’t face a blank page, saving tons of time.

Task Automation 

Copilot features robust task automation capabilities to handle mundane work. It can follow simple instructions like “Schedule a 30-min weekly team sync every Tuesday at 2 pm” and automatically create the meeting event series.

You can also set reminders, fill out forms, transcribe meeting notes, incorporate feedback, rearrange folders, and much more just by describing the task. Custom automation increases efficiency.

Smart Replies 

Harness the power of Copilot’s language model directly in your Outlook inbox. For received emails that require a simple or repetitive response, Smart Replies powered by Copilot provide one-click answer options.

Based on the email’s content and historical exchanges, Copilot drafts potential replies for you to choose from or tweak if none fit perfectly. You customize suggested responses over time, enhancing personalization.

Between fast meeting acceptance, short status updates, and other quick replies, imagine the communication time savings with the help of Copilot.

Document Insights 

Copilot reads along with you, highlighting key details in documents and immediately surfacing relevant information from company data sources.

As you review a sales contract, it may pull a client’s account history or previous agreements with terms for comparison without you needing to dig through folders or databases. Having supporting information at a glance helps accelerate document review.

Natural Language Capabilities 

Since Copilot relies on advanced natural language processing, you can interact conversationally for many features rather than needing rigid keywords. This facilitates a more approachable, collaborative experience with the AI.

Pricing

As of 2024, the pricing for Copilot for Microsoft 365 varies based on the type of user and subscription plan: 

Copilot for Microsoft 365 for Organizations: 

Available to small businesses with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Business Standard subscriptions for $30 per user per month. 

Enterprises can also purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365, and it is included in Office 365 E3 and E5 plans (Microsoft Cloud) (The Official Microsoft Blog) . 

Copilot Pro for Individuals: 

 Aimed at individual users needing advanced AI capabilities, this plan costs $20 per month per user. It provides access to enhanced features like priority access to the latest AI models, advanced image creation tools, and the ability to create custom Copilot GPTs (The Official Microsoft Blog) .

The Vision Behind Microsoft 365 Copilot

Improving employee productivity and satisfaction are key drivers behind Copilot as businesses balance increased complexity and pace of work with demands to keep costs low amidst economic uncertainty in 2024.

Offering an enterprise-grade AI assistant allows Microsoft to support today’s challenged knowledge workers with technologies like automation and natural language processing. This aligns with its strategic focus on developing leading cloud-based solutions that deliver return on investment.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, positions Copilot as the embodiment of “tech intensity” or the company’s ethos of building intelligent tools that enable organizations to do more. It aims to lighten employee burdens through relevant, personalized suggestions and content.

Microsoft is also banking on Copilot to provide a competitive advantage. With AI playing a growing role in work collaboration and execution, no company wants to be left behind. Introducing Copilot allows Microsoft 365 to leapfrog competitors in revolutionizing personal productivity software.

Some business leaders express concerns about AI decreasing employment opportunities through increased automation of tasks. Microsoft counters that AI solutions like Copilot will augment, not replace, roles. It sees humans and AI working together − combining machines’ efficiency with human judgment − as integral for organizations’ progress. 

Comparison of Microsoft 365 Copilot vs ChatGPT 

While Copilot leverages some of the foundations of ChatGPT developed by OpenAI, it has been designed from the ground up specifically for enterprise business use cases within Microsoft 365.  

Here are some key differences between ChatGPT and Copilot: 

Access to business data – Copilot connects directly to Microsoft 365 content like documents, emails, meetings, CRM data etc. to provide grounded, personalized responses relevant to a user’s role and organization. ChatGPT lacks this context. 

Security and compliance – Copilot adheres to configured organizational policies for data protection, privacy, and regulatory compliance. ChatGPT does not fulfill enterprise governance requirements. 

Native app integration – Copilot is embedded natively into Microsoft 365 apps themselves rather than a separate experience. This makes it more seamless and natural to use for core work tasks. 

More accurate responses – With direct access to workplace data and context, Copilot can provide high-fidelity answers vs. ChatGPT’s general knowledge. 

Ongoing improvements – Copilot is regularly updated with new capabilities tailored to enterprise needs that don’t apply to the consumer ChatGPT experience. 

Accountability – Copilot operates within a business relationship with accountable vendor support, service reliability guarantees, and transparency. ChatGPT lacks enterprise-grade accountability. 

While ChatGPT pioneered the conversational AI category, Copilot represents the next evolution optimized for enhancing productivity within the workplace.

The Future of Microsoft 365 Copilot

As companies support flexible and hybrid workforces with increasing reliance on external partners and automation, Microsoft launches Copilot at an opportune intersection of wants and needs.

Distributed teams require tools facilitating collaboration and alignment. Burnt out employees need help prioritizing and executing complex assignments. Company leaders and workers alike struggle with information overload in the knowledge economy.

Copilot addresses these pain points with human-centered AI designed to boost mindshare, productivity, and innovation for modern jobs. Its embedded availability within Microsoft 365 eliminates friction to incorporate AI support.

Early user studies found 92% of testers were more effective using Copilot tools versus traditional applications. Adoption continues gaining momentum. As Copilot’s capabilities grow, Microsoft envisions one day achieving human-to-human parity in assistance proficiency.

While AI will likely never perfectly emulate human judgment or replace relationships, Copilot foreshadows technology taking a seat beside knowledge workers to extend their abilities. With minds and machines working together, the future of work looks brighter and more creative.

Conclusion

Now available to millions of Microsoft 365 subscribers, Copilot promises to evolve personal knowledge work fundamentally. It has the potential to significantly impact concentration, effectiveness, and job satisfaction.

As we settle into 2024, keep an eye out for Copilot incorporation in more third-party business apps through integration with Microsoft Graph. Already tapping into the full spectrum of M365 capabilities like Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, and Office, we should expect ongoing enhancements delivering even more value soon.

The roadmap remains ambitious, but the mission proves sound: empower every employee through technology that adapts to individual needs and goals. Backed by Microsoft research and development, Copilot seems poised to deliver on that vision and transform work in the process. The future is now. Why not have an AI copilot along for the ride?