Microsoft revamps AI Copilot with new voice and reasoning capabilities

In its latest update, Microsoft gave Copilot, a consumer AI assistant, a cuter voice; The chatbot also has the ability to analyze web pages as they navigate for interested users.

The US software maker now has a “whole army” of creative directors, including psychologists, novelists and comedians, who have masterfully developed Copilot’s tone and style, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman told Reuters in an interview. ” he said he had.

At a demonstration of the updated Copilot, a consumer asked a non-wine-drinking friend what housewarming gift to buy at the grocery store. After some back and forth, Copilot said loudly: “Italian (olive) oils are the hottest thing right now. Tuscan is my preference. Super peppery.”

The feature, which launches Tuesday, is one of the first features Suleiman has overseen since Microsoft created its own division in March to focus on consumer products and technology research.

Microsoft, long identified with business software, has embarked on a much more difficult path in the consumer space. For example, the Bing search engine is still dwarfed by Google.

Solomon hopes to make a bigger splash with Copilot, which launched last year in a crowded field of AI chatbots that includes OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

Suleiman said Copilot’s newly developed voice capabilities make him seem like a much more active listener, offering verbal cues like “cool” and “huh.”

Süleyman said that the basis of the product is Microsoft AI or “MAI” models as well as the technology suite of its business partner OpenAI.

Suleyman added that consumers who spend $20 a month for Copilot Pro can start testing the “Think Deeper” feature, which reasons through choices like whether to move to one city or another.

He said Copilot Vision, an additional testing feature for paying subscribers, stands for “digital markup,” meaning the ability for users to talk to artificial intelligence about what they see in the Microsoft Edge browser. Microsoft said consumers should choose this option and the content they view will not be recorded or used to train AI.

Suleiman said these updates represent “glimmers” of artificial intelligence that could be “an ever-present confidant in your corner.” It’s a vision he voiced as CEO of Inflection AI, whose top talent Microsoft poached in a closely watched deal this year.

Copilot will eventually learn context from consumers’ Word documents, Windows desktops, even gaming consoles if they allow it, Suleiman said.

When asked what Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thought about the company’s artificial intelligence work, Süleyman said that Gates was excited.

“He always asks me when he can read and parse Copilot’s emails. It’s one of his favorite emails,” Suleiman said. “We’re on the case.”

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