Microsoft's Stunning Copilot AI Demo Could Change Office Work Forever

Imagine Clippy... on Hulk-like steroids.

Clippy on Steroids

You can run, but you can't hide — AI is coming for your office work. All of it.

Still riding high on the success of integrating ChatGPT in Bing, Microsoft just announced that its GPT-4-powered Copilot is coming to Office 365 apps. With it, users will be able to generate entire Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Outlook emails, and PowerPoint presentations with a click of a button, horizontally integrating all those apps (along with Microsoft Teams).

In other words, it's Clippy, our paperclip companion of yore, but on steroids. A lot. Think, maybe, Bruce Banner to Incredible Hulk. Or as Microsoft 365 head Jared Spataro gushed during an announcement today: "Copilot is a whole new way of working."

If this thing works like Microsoft says it does, that might actually qualify as an understatement.

Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

The tech giant's Copilot wants to be your AI-powered secretary, nagging you about a meeting you're dreading, informing you of a new hire, or even snitching on coworkers who were supposed to be back in the office after their vacation.

Microsoft was careful to note that the tech is far from perfect, as Spataro caveated that when, in fact, Copilot doesn't get things right, it will be "usefully wrong." Or, as he elaborated, it will give you an idea "that’s not perfect but still gives you a head start."

Translation: Microsoft wants you to know that their newfangled AI assistant could end up misleading you, and making a mess of your day at the office. Think of this as the Tesla Self-Driving of office work: Sure, you can fall asleep at the wheel, and it might get you home, but it might also cause an eight-vehicle crash. The dice are yours to roll!

For now, the new feature will be limited to a small group of users as they continue to refine it, but the company is expected to "expand to more" testers soon.

In short, Clippy's AI-powered manic cousin is about to come cannonballing into your office life and either deliver your salvation from the most boring, soul-crushing work you face every day, or set a garbage fire to your career as an anarchic agent of chaos under the guise of a helpful productivity tool. Not that we need to remind you, but: Choose your new gods wisely.

READ MORE: Microsoft announces Copilot: the AI-powered future of Office documents [The Verge]

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