Microsoft is going to introduce Copilot, its latest artificial intelligence assistant, to the public on November 1. This chatbot, powered by generative AI technology, is prepared to revolutionize productivity on the world’s most popular PC operating system.
What Can Copilot Do for You?
Copilot’s standout feature is its ability to attend meetings on your behalf, making it a game-changer in the world of remote work and collaboration. If you decide not to attend a meeting, Copilot can provide a comprehensive summary of the discussion. However, active participation and asking questions during the meeting won’t be possible.
For those who attend meetings, Copilot serves as a valuable sidekick. It compiles a detailed summary of the discussion, attributing statements to specific participants. Moreover, Copilot can identify unresolved questions and gauge the sentiments of meeting participants on various topics.
Beyond meetings, Copilot is versatile in handling tasks like drafting emails, creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. It can also assist in summarizing lengthy email threads. Importantly, you have the option to review and edit Copilot’s content before sending or sharing it.
Where Can You Access Copilot?
Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365, making it readily available in widely used applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. If you remember Clippy, the animated paperclip from older Microsoft Office versions, think of Copilot as its more sophisticated successor without the playful animations.
Another way to access Copilot is through Business Chat, which operates across Microsoft’s extensive language model and integrates with 365 apps and user data. This means Copilot can pull information from your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and contacts to provide you with useful insights and assistance.
Is Copilot Free?
The answer is both yes and no. Microsoft offers certain basic features of Copilot for free to users with a Microsoft account. However, if you want to unlock more advanced capabilities, you wil need to subscribe.
For enterprise users, Copilot comes with a monthly fee of $30. In the United Arab Emirates, this fee is approximately Dh110 when converted to the local currency.
It is important to note that this monthly fee is in addition to any existing Microsoft 365 subscription you may have, such as Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, or E5. These subscriptions grant access to the Office apps but do not cover additional services like Teams Premium.