Microsoft got rid of its over-eager office assistant Clippy 17 years ago, but the idea of a friendly and optimistic AI assistant has apparently found its way out of the Recycle Bin. The company is revamping Copilot, a text-based artificial intelligence tool integrated with Windows and other software, with the addition of vision, voice, and the ability to solve complex problems—and an “inspiring” personality.
“We’re really in this amazing kind of transition,” said Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI. “AI friends now see what we see, hear what we hear, and speak the same language we use when communicating with each other.”
So far Copilot has met with a mixed response, with some users complaining about lag or lack of clarity in its responses, but Microsoft is betting that this tool could become an important part of Windows, Office, and beyond. By integrating OpenAI’s AI algorithms into software used by hundreds of millions of people, the company is also at the forefront of exploring the potential of AI to improve office productivity. Google, a major competitor, is also rolling out AI into office applications including Gmail and Google Docs.
The new Copilot will be able to chat with users in several human-like voices, handling interruptions and pausing naturally. “You can interrupt in the middle of the flow and it will actively listen,” Suleyman said. “And that’s the art of good conversation.”
Suleyman adds that Copilot has also been modified to provide more emotional support to users. “It’s in your group, it supports you, it’s your hype,” he said. Copilot Voice will be available starting today in English to users in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with more countries to follow, the company said.
Microsoft’s assistant Clippy, an anthropomorphized paper clip, is best known for appearing when users open Word with the infamous line “It looks like you’re writing a book…” The product was unpopular; Microsoft concluded that this was partly because the system failed to deliver the human-like intelligence it promised, forgot user preferences and endlessly iterated on itself. Larger language models are better at simulating human intelligence, but their behavior can still be strange and unpredictable, which may contribute to Copilot’s popularity.
Copilot Voice will be available in the free version of Copilot for Windows, which is available with a standalone mobile app and through the web.
Microsoft is introducing another Copilot trial upgrade as well, which will be limited to those who pay $20 per month for a Copilot Pro subscription. An onboarding feature called Copilot Vision will allow an AI assistant to see users’ screens and react to things they point to with their cursor. Suleyman says a user can show a product, for example, and ask Copilot to provide an opinion based on reviews from the web.
“One of the things that seems to be very common is that people ask for beauty advice,” says Suleyman. “They’re on a fashion website, and guys, what do you call that pattern? What do you call that dress?”
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