Microsoft Announces Copilot Pro AI Assistant for Office Suite, Coming as a Subscription

[AleksandarK]

Today, Microsoft launched Copilot Pro, bringing its AI-powered productivity features to mainstream consumers. Available as a $20 per month add-on to Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscriptions, Copilot Pro injects AI directly into Office apps to help users write faster and work smarter. The key features include AI-generated text suggestions and summaries in Word, automated data analysis and graph creation in Excel, and even entire PowerPoint presentation generation from a text prompt. Copilot can also suggest email replies in Outlook and assist with other productivity tasks. What sets Copilot Pro apart from the free Copilot assistant is its tight integration with Office apps and ability to summarize long Word documents and generate entire decks. The Pro version also offers priority access to the latest AI models from OpenAI, Microsoft's key partner. The regular Copilot uses GPT-4 during non-priority times, while the Copilot Pro aims to serve its users with GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo all the time.

While regular Copilot is available to anyone with a Microsoft account, Copilot Pro is reserved for those with active Microsoft 365 subscriptions. However, it brings previously business-only AI capabilities like PowerPoint generation to mainstream users. Microsoft's Divya Kumar, global head of marketing for search and AI at Microsoft, stated in a discussion for The Verge that Copilot Pro will continue to expand over time: "Given that pattern we've been in, that rolling thunder, you can expect we're going to do the exact same thing for Copilot Pro." So, while the initial launch focuses on core Office apps, expect Copilot Pro to pop up across Microsoft's software and services eventually. For now, it aims to boost productivity for Office power users willing to pay a little extra for AI assistance.



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[Onasi]

You just introduced this and already you decided to go all in on monetizing it? Not gonna give it at least a half year of a trial period now that it’s out in the hands of people (well, some markets anyway)? Just… straight up a sub for 20 bucks? That’s a bold strategy. Stupid, but bold. Guess gotta do it while the hype around “AI” lasts.
And yes, I realize that it’s technically separate from the Windows Copilot and theoretically more suited for Office tasks, but same tech. And really, suggesting e-mail responses? Lovely. Even less reason for people to actually think. I am beginning to think that the recent thread where we had a lot of doom and gloom around AI dumbing people down was right. I was skeptical then, but…

 

[R0H1T]

So finally OpenAI(MS?) started monetizing this AI BS

 

[Bwaze]

In a world thay monetizes Tiktok dances, why would we get anything for free, useful or not?

 

[Chaitanya]

Good as long as its not installed by default adding to bloat on computer, another one of the things users can avoid.

 

[theouto]

As someone that enjoys a good powerpoint presentation, if this leads to the decline in quality due to unexperienced people believing that it is about the visuals, and not the presentation itself, and thus begin over relying on copilot, which won't be as good as a human in preparing the presentation at hand, I will be saddened.
Not really a hammer and jackhammer situation, more so a hammer and scalpel, we don't have AI scalpels just yet.

 

[wNotyarD]

Good as long as its not installed by default adding to bloat on computer, another one of the things users can avoid.

But you can bet yours that MS will agressively push it every Windows update, just like Office 365.

 

[phanbuey]

The copilot implementation is much worse than the openai version of gpt 4.

its a good start for maybe adding automation down the line -- but with the current parameters it's so brittle and censored that if you asked it if the sky is blue the answer you would get is something like "the sky is may or may not be blue, blah blah blah" with no clear or usable answer.

I really hope this isn't akin to something like onedrive, which by itself and on paper should be a great product, but implementation wise its brutally annoying.

 

[Deleted member 57642]

I remember all the Copilot hype from a few moths back:

"Copilot AI just killed Chat GPT! Not only better but also... FREE!! All hail our lord and savior - Microsoft! "


Same "influencers"are either silent/ignoring this news or talk in a reserved way with no hype whatsoever in their voice (as if just some random news that's not even worth mention - but they got fill their scheduled quota) .

 

[R0H1T]

Influencers were peddling this "AI" really? Must've been near the bottom of the SM circle jerk totem pole

 

[Easy Rhino]

It is going to make forging papers in school that much easier.

 

[Dirt Chip]

Easy: call it AI, get pay for others to use it.

Going next is GPU AI software, LAN\router AI ping accelerator, windows AI add-on to do things for you and so on. All monthly subscription, you get 2 months free and you can quit anytime you want..

Just another step towards your personal 'hal'.

 

[Onasi]

Just another step towards your personal 'hal'.

This is an atrocious pun. Just wretched. I love it and absolutely am stealing it.

 

[MachineLearning]

We're in hell.

 

[dyonoctis]

The copilot implementation is much worse than the openai version of gpt 4.

its a good start for maybe adding automation down the line -- but with the current parameters it's so brittle and censored that if you asked it if the sky is blue the answer you would get is something like "the sky is may or may not be blue, blah blah blah" with no clear or usable answer.

I really hope this isn't akin to something like onedrive, which by itself and on paper should be a great product, but implementation wise its brutally annoying.

They had to put boundaries, the earlier version of Microsoft chatbot was fairly easy to "break", especially with the creative answers turned on. The way that it worked made it easy to push it into a corner where it appears sentient (when it's not) and tell you that it's unhappy about its status as a chatbot . Right now, one of the biggest danger of chatbots is making people forget that they are chatbot. People are surprisingly easy to fool by the illusion of intelligence.

Copilot can answer questions that have a definitive right answer, but the A.I. not playing the all-knowing about touchy or subjective topics is actually the responsible thing to do. Microsoft doesn't want to deal with a lawsuit because some dude overestimated what the chatbot is meant to do and followed an advice that ended up in a disaster

 

[Dave65]

MY GOD!
I really need to learn Linux.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yeah I miss the good old days when copilot was a 32oz insulated fountain drink mug or of course co-pilot for aircraft, but these still exist
Man they must be really confused now everyone asking them all types of dumb questions

 

[remixedcat]

co pilot is clippit

MY GOD!
I really need to learn Linux.

Full time Linux since 2018 here!!

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Aimee vibe might go over better

 

[remixedcat]

or m3gan!