On Tuesday (October 1), Microsoft unveiled a range of new features for its Copilot AI chatbot, enhancing its role as a personal assistant. Among the updates are the ability to generate news summaries, a discovery tab for easier content reading, and a brand-new voice chat mode.
“Great technology experiences are about how you feel, not what’s behind the scenes. It should focus on what you experience rather than what we are building,” stated Mustafa Suleyman, the executive president of Microsoft AI. He emphasized the importance of personalizing the chatbot, saying, “Copilot will be there for you, by your side, always aligned with your interests. It understands the context of your life while safeguarding your privacy, data, and security.”
Voice copilot
Copilot Voice allows users to engage in seamless audio conversations with AI, mimicking a phone call experience. You can choose from up to four different voice models, enabling instant communication with the assistant without the need to type, making it particularly handy for answering questions on both your PC and mobile device.
This trend of voice assistants resembling the AI from the film Her (2013) has gained significant traction in the generative AI market this year, with platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and now Microsoft’s Copilot embracing this conversational format.
Daily summaries and discoveries
The Redmond Giant has also introduced Copilot Daily, a feature that provides daily news summaries, allowing users to stay updated on key topics and other areas of interest. This tool is available only in the USA and the UK and will feature content from authorized sources. Presently, collaborations include reputable names like Reuters and the Financial Times, with plans to expand the list.
In addition, the AI has launched a new tab called Discover, which offers Copilot prompts and resource tips tailored to help with everyday tasks based on each user’s search history. Visually, this screen is reminiscent of Google’s Discover tab, although it does not display news content.
Copilot Vision
Copilot Vision is a powerful feature that can recognize and analyze everything happening on your computer or mobile screen, generating responses based on that information. Thanks to its multimodal capabilities, users can engage with the assistant through audio while simultaneously using Vision to interpret images or screenshots.
Microsoft has emphasized privacy measures for this feature to avoid the issues experienced with Recall. By default, Copilot Vision is turned off and must be activated by the user. It operates transparently and doesn’t run in the background, store query data, or help users bypass paywalls or other content restrictions.
Reasoning mode
Lastly, the Think Deeper feature enhances Copilot’s ability to tackle more complex prompts that require advanced logical reasoning. While response times may increase, this feature enables the AI to deliver detailed, step-by-step answers tailored to various queries. Currently, access to Think Deeper is limited to the new Copilot Labs, which serves as a hub for experimental tools and resources.
Availability
These new features will be rolled out in Copilot for web browsers and the assistant versions for Android and iOS, underscoring Microsoft’s aim to integrate AI as a practical tool for various daily scenarios rather than limiting its use to PCs.
However, Brazilian users will have to wait longer to access these functionalities. Copilot Voice will debut in English-speaking countries first. At the same time, Daily is available only in the U.S. and U.K. Limited testing for Vision has also begun in the United States.
Additionally, today’s Microsoft event showcased the launch of the significant 24H2 Windows 11 update, highlighting the various changes and enhancements introduced.
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