Explained: Microsoft’s different AI-powered copilots and how they work

During the Microsoft Build 2023, Microsoft extended its Copilot features to Windows 11 and the Edge browser. Copilot is an AI assistant, built on top of large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to offer users an ease to perform several tasks like search, content generation, and coding. At present, Copilot has been included in several Microsoft products, as listed below.

Windows Copilot

Windows 11 has been the latest to get a Copilot AI assistant. The Windows Copilot, like Bing Chat, will answer user queries, summarise content, or rewrite it – all in one place, without having to search across different applications. It can be accessed through a button on the taskbar.

Once open, it would be accessible through a sidebar across apps, programs, and windows. The Copilot will not replace the Windows search bar but will have a separate button alongside it. 

Microsoft 365 Copilot

In March, Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, embedded in apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams among others. It appears on the sidebar as a chatbot for performing tasks like text generation in documents, creating PowerPoint presentations based on Word documents, and helping use Excel features.

Copilot’s features are also extended to Outlook helping users in summarising email threads and draft responses according to the specific instructions given.

Microsoft Edge Copilot

In February, Microsoft launched an AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser – calling it the Copilot for the web. The company said that it will allow users can generate content, and get better responses to search results and queries.

Going a step ahead, this week, Microsoft introduced the Copilot assistant to the Edge browser. This means that the 365 Copilot AI will be natively integrated into the Edge browser.  By direct integration, users will be able to get more context in completing their tasks in their Outlook emails and Office documents.

Security Copilot

Security copilot is an AI assistant for security professionals. It is powered by large language model GPT-4 and a security-specific model from Microsoft. It runs on Microsoft Azure’s hyperscale infrastructure and is informed by Microsoft’s global threat intelligence and over 65 million daily signals.

Corresponding to the prompt given by the security professional, the Copilot generates a response unique to the use case. It can generate a summary of vulnerabilities, generate customised reports, and analyse code. The Copilot can augment the analyst work and help catch approaches that may be missed. 

Copilot in Microsoft BI

Copilot in Power BI was introduced at the recently concluded Microsoft Build 2023 event. Using this Copilot, users can generate desired visuals and insights using natural language prompts. It can create reports and summaries, generate and edit data analysis expressions (DAX), and respond to queries. Users will be able to set the tone, scope, and style of narratives and add them seamlessly in their reports. It is currently available in private preview.

GitHub Copilot

Microsoft, OpenAI, and GitHub launched an AI-pair programmer called Copilot in 2021. This was aimed at developers to provide assistance by offering them programming suggestions. As per GitHub’s own research, the tool has been instrumental in significantly increasing program productivity.

Building on it, Microsoft announced Copilot X, based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model. The company claims that it helps developers write code faster. In addition, it also offers chat and voice-based support.