--- title: "Analyst Warns Against Using Microsoft’s Copilot AI on Friday Afternoons" description: "Given Copilot's dangerous hallucinations, an analyst suggests using it only when employees are alert enough to check its work." date: "2026-03-22" modified: "2026-03-22" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/microsoft-copilot-ai-friday" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" --- # Analyst Warns Against Using Microsoft’s Copilot AI on Friday Afternoons ![A man sitting at a desk with a laptop in front of him, covering his face with both hands, appearing stressed or overwhelmed. The background features a large red circle on a light green backdrop. The man is wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a wristwatch.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* As Microsoft has aggressively pushed its Copilot AI, it's logged more than a few high-profile errors. Copilot has been found [hallucinating police reports](), [exposing secure passwords](), and [digesting confidential emails]() — prompting security fears as its use in corporate and government settings becomes more common. Dennis Xu, a research analyst at the firm Gartner, went as far as to suggest that companies using Copilot should ban it on Friday afternoons, because by that late juncture in the week, workers might be too checked out to double check its work. According [to the *Register*](), that warning — half-joking but half-serious — came at a Gartner panel called "Mitigating the Top 5 Microsoft 365 Copilot Security Risks" held in Sydney, Australia this week. "Copilot makes over-shared documents more accessible," Xu warned. "This is not a net new risk, but a known risk amplified by AI." Per the *Register*, Xu spent 30 minutes talking about the five risks, 20 of which were dedicated to Copilot's penchant for exposing sensitive data obtained after users failed to take the necessary precautions. Let's face it. Given the [dangerous hallucinations]() and [reputational blunders]() other models have facilitated, it might not be a bad idea to extend Xu's Friday-afternoon ban across any AI chatbot, regardless of the model. **More on AI:** *[Meta’s Head of AI Safety Just Made a Mistake That May Cause You a Certain Amount of Alarm]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()