Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Copilot is a multifaceted AI assistant introduced as Bing Chat in February 2023. It can be accessed through various Microsoft products like Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 including desktop and mobile applications for Apple IOS and Google Android. Copilot acts like a digital companion, helping you with tasks like generating creative text formats like poems or code, answering your questions, and even citing sources. Need a creative spark for writing? Copilot can generate drafts or brainstorm ideas. It even understands how to work within different apps and can cite sources or write different kinds of creative text formats like poems or songs. Copilot also connects with Microsoft Designer's "Image Creator powered by DALL·E 3," allowing you to generate unique images based on your descriptions through text prompts.

Microsoft's Copilot ecosystem can be confusing because they use the same underlying technology for various applications. There two main categories with variations:

Two Main Categories:

1. Microsoft Copilot: This is the core functionality, an AI assistant that helps with coding across various platforms.
2. Copilot for Specific Applications: These are versions of Copilot tailored to work within specific Microsoft products, like Microsoft 365 or Azure. They focus on enhancing those applications with AI-powered features.

Breakdown of each category:

• Microsoft Copilot: This is the core offering and comes in two versions:
  • Free Version: This version integrates with some Microsoft products like Visual Studio Code and offers basic code completion and suggestions.
  • Copilot Pro (Paid): This premium version provides more advanced features like code generation, multi-line completions, and better access to training data.
• Copilot for Specific Tasks (all part of Microsoft 365):
  • These are not separate versions but rather access points to the core Copilot applications:
    • Copilot for PowerPoint
    • Copilot for Word
    • Copilot for Outlook
    • Copilot for Teams

Quick summary:

• Microsoft Copilot is the general AI assistant for coding and creativity.
• Copilot Pro is the paid version of Microsoft Copilot with more features.
• Copilot for Specific Tasks are specialized applications of Copilot within Microsoft 365.
• Note: Currently Syracuse University’s Microsoft 365 Business Standard accounts via your SU NetID do not fully offer Copilot for Microsoft 365. Instead, Microsoft Copilot via SU includes security for private data. Unlike the free version, SU Copilot access does not retain user data from using the service.

Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant designed to work within the Microsoft 365 suite of applications. It leverages large language models (LLMs) to understand your requests and provide assistance with various tasks. Here's a breakdown of how it works:

1. Input and Grounding: Copilot starts with an input prompt from you within a Microsoft 365 app like Word or PowerPoint. It then performs a process called grounding to refine the prompt. This grounding step helps Copilot tailor its response to your specific context and task. For instance, the prompt might include text you've already written or information Copilot discovers in your documents.
2. Large Language Model Processing: With the refined prompt, Copilot interacts with the large language model. This LLM is essentially a powerful AI model trained on a massive amount of text data. It analyzes the prompt and generates a response, which could be text, code, or even an image suggestion.
3. Security and Processing: Copilot prioritizes security and privacy. It only accesses data you have permission to within Microsoft 365, respecting your organization's access controls. The response from the LLM also undergoes additional processing. This includes security checks, compliance reviews, and ensuring the response aligns with responsible AI principles.
4. Output and User Review: Finally, Copilot presents the processed response back to you within the application. This could be a suggested continuation of your writing, a summary of a meeting, or a draft email reply. You can then review and use the suggestions at your discretion.