Microsoft has announced its Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program is now open. However, it is an invitation-only preview that customers must also pay for. This is the first access to the Microsoft 365 Copilot program the company introduced in March. Early Access will be available to an initial group of 600 global customers and ask testers to provide feedback to improve the product.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a new feature that aims to revolutionize the way people work with artificial intelligence. Announced in March, Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with the data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn natural language prompts into actions and outputs. It combines an integration of OpenAI's GPT-4 with Microsoft's own Bing Chat and Microsoft Graph.
With Microsoft 365 Copilot, the major Office apps on Microsoft's productivity stack have natural language AI capabilities. Specifically, Microsoft introduced Word Copilot, Excel Copilot, PowerPoint Copilot, Teams Copilot, and Viva Copilot. There was also an announcement to launch the new Business Chat, which brings the Bing Chat chatbot into Microsoft 365.
It can help users to create documents, presentations, emails, chats, and more with just a few words or sentences. It can also generate summaries, suggestions, tones, and edits to improve the quality and clarity of the content.
One of the most innovative aspects of Copilot is Business Chat, a new experience that works across the LLMs, the Microsoft 365 apps, and the user's data to do things that have never been possible before. Users can give Business Chat natural language prompts like “tell my team how we updated the product strategy” and it will generate a status update based on the morning's meetings, emails, and chat threads.
New Semantics Index for Copilot Launches for AI Data Mapping
In a blog post to announce the Early Access Program, Microsoft's Jared Spataro – CVP Modern Work & Business Applications – says the company is rolling out a new service with the program. Known as Sematic Index for Copilot, the tool provides customers with an overview map of their data:
“For example, when you ask it about the “March Sales Report,” it doesn't simply look for documents with those words in the file name or body. Instead, it understands that “sales reports are produced by Kelly on the finance team and created in Excel.” And it uses that conceptual understanding to determine your intent and help you find what you need. The Semantic Index for Copilot is critical to getting relevant, actionable responses to prompts in Microsoft 365 Copilot.”
Microsoft claims that Copilot is built with data security and privacy in mind and that it follows the existing commitments and policies of Microsoft 365 in the enterprise. Microsoft also says that Copilot is not intended to replace human workers but rather to augment their capabilities and free them from mundane tasks.
If you are interested in joining the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program, you can apply here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/early-access-program. If you want to know more about the individual components of Microsoft 365 Copilot, check out our accompanying articies:
- Copilot for OneNote
- Copilot for Viva Engage
- Copilot for Microsoft Teams
- Copilot for Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook)
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