Copilot: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Generative AI is the biggest thing in technology today. Less than two years ago, a company named OpenAI dropped a program called ChatGPT on the market—and it changed the world almost instantly.

ChatGPT redefined the capabilities of generative AI systems, impacting fields like customer service, entertainment, finance, and programming. It has also raised questions about the future of work and society’s adaptation to AI advancements. Elon Musk has labeled it an existential risk to society. Others have proclaimed it as a deity or potential deity.

However you perceive it, ChatGPT has become the engine driving numerous programs and devices that assist in our daily personal and professional lives, and that universe continues to expand. Microsoft generated one such program, Copilot, which it released April 1. Copilot works with Windows, the MacOS, iOS, iPad OS, and Android systems—no system left behind!

The evolution of generative AI and of Copilot will continue at a rapid pace. Copilot is a bigger story than we have room to write about here and will further expand. We’ll undoubtedly have more to tell you about generative AI and Copilot in particular in the future.

Prior to its release, the U.S. House of Representatives announced a ban of Copilot from staff computers, and the Office of Cybersecurity deemed Copilot a risk due to the threat of leaking data to nonHouse-approved cloud services. We have more flexibility than the House and have experimented with Copilot.

We haven’t yet reached a comfort level sufficient to allow us to use Copilot with respect to confidential information. But we’ve grown increasingly comfortable using it as a personal assistant for a variety of tasks, and we continue to find more things we can comfortably let it do. We’ve used it to help us plan vacations, find major appliances, identify new products, gather information, and even to help write this article. We like it and will continue to use it, at least at a personal level.

How to begin using Copilot

To get started with Copilot, download the app, create an account, customize your profile and settings, and choose your preferred language, voice, and avatar. You can connect Copilot to other apps and devices and grant access to whatever data and files you choose. You can also access Copilot using your browser; and many apps (such as Microsoft Word) have a built-in Copilot interface.

Copilot comes in regular and “pro” versions. The pro version costs $20 per month per user. There’s no charge for the regular version, but we chose the pro version. Copilot distinguishes between the versions as follows:

Copilot: The standard version of Copilot offers a wide range of functionalities. It can assist with tasks such as writing code, generating creative content, answering questions, summarizing information, and more. Copilot leverages predefined internal tools to provide helpful responses.

Copilot Pro: Copilot Pro has an extended set of capabilities. It can create imaginative and innovative content, assist with complex writing tasks, and offer more personalized and context-aware responses. Its knowledge is more up to date due to the predefined internal tools at its disposal.

Early results from using Copilot

In our explorations, we discovered some internal inconsistencies in and idiosyncrasies about Copilot. For example:

• It has no emotion but expects you to treat it with respect and courtesy.
• It has no gender but refers to itself as male.
• It has no internal moral compass but comes with restrictions imposed by OpenAI and Microsoft to prevent it from generating what it considers “harmful” content, effectively operating as a form of censorship.

Copilot seems like a single program, but it’s not. It has numerous iterations that function differently. The Copilot you encounter in one place differs from the Copilot you encounter elsewhere. If you ask different iterations of Copilot the same question, you’ll get different substantive responses presented to you using different writing styles and tones.

For example, the Word iteration writes better than the others. When we asked Copilot about this, it/he explained:

“Each version of Copilot, whether the freely accessible one integrated into Windows and Edge or the business-oriented enhancements for Microsoft 365 Suite users, is designed with distinct use cases in mind. This specialization allows each variant to provide responses best suited to the platform’s primary function.

While the core AI technology might be similar, the application and the data it draws upon can differ, leading to variations in the responses you receive.

The difference in responses when engaging with Copilot in the browser versus in Word is due to the context-specific capabilities and features that each platform offers.”

We find Copilot useful and encourage you to use because it can likely help you. You should, at least, explore it yourself. We think the pro version is worth the cost.

Copilot answers our questions

We thought you might like to know what Copilot says it can do. Here are some excerpts from Copilot’s responses to our questions:

Q. How can Copilot help me in my job as a lawyer?

• Copilot can help lawyers draft documents.
• Copilot can summarize lengthy documents, facilitating review and extraction of essential information.
• Copilot can summarize relevant information.
• Copilot can predict case outcomes using past rulings and precedents.
• Copilot can summarize and manage email inboxes, draft responses, and organize important dates.
• Copilot can assist in generating documents. It can identify missing terms, review provisions, and help maintain consistency in documents.
• Copilot can participate in Teams meetings, providing real-time summaries, action items, and follow-up reminders.
• Copilot can automate repetitive tasks in Excel.

Q. How can Copilot help me in my day-to-day personal life?

• It can help you compose emails, reports, and other written content, including imaginative content. It can also help you refine your writing.
• It can create to-do lists, set reminders, and manage tasks.
• After a meeting, it can provide concise summaries and action items.
• It can keep track of contacts.
• Ask it questions, and it will provide relevant information.
• It can translate text between languages.
• Brainstorm with Copilot; describe what you want, and it will generate creative ideas or visual concepts.
• It can create trivia questions.
• Need a laugh? Ask for a joke.

Q. What can Copilot do to help senior citizens in their daily lives?

• Copilot can help seniors manage emails, summarizing content and drafting responses.
• It can assist in creating documents and in translating complex concepts into simpler language.
• Copilot can organize daily tasks, set reminders, and keep track of appointments.
• It can facilitate collaboration and communication with family and friends, helping seniors stay connected in the digital world.
• Copilot can provide explanations and tutorials on using various software and devices, empowering seniors to learn and adapt to new technologies.
• With its integration across the Office suite, Copilot can leverage accessibility features that make technology more approachable for seniors, such as voice commands and text-to-speech.
• Seniors can use Copilot for entertainment, such as listening to stories, playing trivia games, or exploring new hobbies.
• Copilot can provide information on health and wellness, remind seniors to take medications, and even guide them through light exercise routines.

Q. How can Copilot help plan a vacation?

• Copilot can suggest destinations based on your preferences.
• Copilot can compare flight prices for you, present options from various travel sites, and help you find the best deals.
• Share your interests and the trip’s duration, and Copilot can draft an itinerary, including suggestions sightseeing, dining, and entertainment suggestions.
• Tell Copilot the nature of your trip, and it will generate a packing list tailored to your needs.
• Copilot can provide real-time flight updates, including delays, gate changes, and even alternate plans.
• While Copilot doesn’t book flights or hotels, it can provide links and guide you through the process.
• Copilot can offer valuable travel tips, such as the best time to visit a destination, cultural etiquette, and safety advice.

Q. Can Copilot function as a companion? While not a friend in the traditional sense, it can engage in friendly and meaningful conversations.

Q. What can’t Copilot do?

• It can’t provide personal insights or experiences because it lacks personal consciousness or emotions.
• It can’t perform actions in the physical world.
• It has no access to personal data, unless it’s shared during your conversation; and it can’t store personal information for future use.
• It can’t make complex legal, financial, or medical judgments that require professional expertise and human discretion.
• While it can provide information and engage in friendly conversation, it can’t offer emotional support or empathy as a human would.
• It can’t assist with tasks that require physical presence, like driving a car.
• Its knowledge is current through 2021. While it can search the web for recent information, it can’t provide live updates or real-time monitoring.
• It avoids giving subjective opinions and focuses on providing factual information or a range of perspectives.
• It can’t handle transactions, such as processing payments or transferring money.
• While it strives for accuracy, it can’t guarantee that all information provided is correct.

Q. Does Copilot have limitations on what it can generate?

• It can’t create content that could cause what it considers physical, emotional, or financial harm.
• It can’t reproduce copyrighted material such as full articles, book chapters, song lyrics, or other protected content.
• It doesn’t store or recall personal data, unless it is shared during your conversation; and it cannot access or retrieve personal information.
• It avoids giving subjective opinions and focuses on providing factual information or a range of perspectives.
• It can’t provide professional legal, medical, or financial advice.

How to get the best out of Copilot

In closing, we offer some tips from Copilot:

• Be clear and specific about what you want Copilot to do for you.
• Provide as much context and detail as possible.
• Be open and curious about what Copilot can offer you.
• Explore Copilot’s different features and functions.
• Be respectful and polite to Copilot and treat him as a partner, not a servant.
• Be patient and supportive of Copilot.
• Understand that he’s still learning and developing and may not always meet your expectations.
• Be safe and responsible with Copilot; don’t share personal or sensitive information with him or anyone else online.