Just a month ago, Microsoft’s release of Bing Chat using ChatGPT to deliver AI search was a game changer for browsers and search engines. This month, the company’s announcement of Microsoft 365 Copilot at an AI work event yesterday promises to be a similar transformative moment for productivity.
You can check out my full report detailing all the announcements yesterday. We also have an in-depth look at how Microsoft 365 Copilot works in Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
However, it is arguably in Microsoft Teams where Copilot can have the biggest impact. Microsoft 365 Copilot for Teams brings OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology – no powered by GPT-4 – to Microsoft’s workplace chat and collaboration app.
In fact, Copilot will become an extra member of every meeting, a functioning and interactive participant. Microsoft says the AI will help by summarizing meetings with highlights for key actions and moments.
Task Manager
During a chat, Copilot will surface answers for questions by accessing data, while also providing prompts on something you may have missed. Importantly, Copilot is on behind the scenes, so you do not need to break workflow to evoke it. Of course, you can directly query the AI for information.
As well as becoming an integrated meeting participant, Copilot also acts as an assistant by handling common tasks such as creating meeting schedules and topic agendas.
Copilot helps you run more effective meetings, get up to speed on the conversation, organize key discussion points, and summarize key actions so that the entire group knows what to do next,” Microsoft points out.
“By adding Copilot to your meetings and conversations, you now also have a powerful tool to help with common tasks such as creating meeting agendas based on chat history, identifying the right people for follow-ups, and scheduling the next check-in.”
The company offers some example prompts that can be used when using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Teams:
- “Summarize what I missed in the meeting. What points have been made so far? Where do we disagree on this topic?
- Create a table of pros and cons for [topic being discussed]. What else should we consider before making a decision?
- What decisions were made, and what are some suggested next steps?”
Last month, Microsoft brought OpenAI’s GTP-3.5 AI to its Intelligent Recap service for Team Premium. It is unclear how Copilot will impact that integration or whether they will sit side-by-side as two separate AI components in Teams.
Tip of the day: Need to create an ad-hoc network from your PC? In our tutorial we show you how to easily create a shareable wireless internet connection in Windows as a free WIFI hotspot.
Last Updated on April 27, 2023 10:32 am CEST by Markus Kasanmascheff
