Microsoft is developing a new generation of Copilot and wants to make this AI assistant into something beyond a conversational tool.
According to ITNA quoting Techspot, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, described this approach as a kind of "new operating system for work"; an intelligent layer that can connect apps, documents, team members and various tasks and perform some of the work automatically.
The new Copilot for businesses consists of several main parts. The first part is called Home and allows users to converse with Copilot so the AI can review their files and workspace and suggest how it can help. This tool can also control apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint and automatically draft documents for the user to edit.
Another part is Code, which is designed to build applications using natural-language prompts. This tool uses GitHub Copilot technologies and, Microsoft says, with the help of Microsoft IQ technology it can retain information and context about the user's work environment and is not limited to only the content visible on the screen at that moment.
But the most important part of this suite is Autopilot, previously known as Scout. This tool offers the highest level of automation. The user need only assign a role and a specific goal for Autopilot so the AI can perform tasks such as scheduling meetings, following up communications with people, monitoring channels and starting or continuing projects.
Autopilot runs cloud-based and can operate around the clock without continuous user intervention. The tool moves between Teams, Outlook, documents and other apps and remains in communication with team members.
Microsoft plans to bring Home and Code into the Frontier program in the coming weeks, while Autopilot will enter a private preview at the end of the month. Another feature called Today is also scheduled to be rolled out experimentally in October. This feature displays email information, Teams conversations, meetings and other resources in a unified space and can generate suggested documents and schedules.
This development comes as Microsoft and Qualcomm have effectively distanced themselves from the Copilot+ PC brand and acknowledged that the label "AI PCs" did not gain widespread consumer adoption. It now appears Microsoft intends, instead of focusing solely on hardware, to make AI a central layer for getting work done on computers; an approach that also bears similarities to the cancelled Aion project.