- Microsoft has rebuilt the Copilot user interface from scratch to make it more personal and inviting to users.
- Microsoft Copilot now includes headline AI features including Copilot Voice, Copilot Vision, and Think Deeper.
- It also brings an AI-powered daily news presenter, allowing you to listen to global news delivered by an AI-generated voice.
- The new AI model behind Copilot is pretty capable. In my brief testing, it managed to get all of them right.
In March 2024, Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind (now Google DeepMind) and Inflection AI, was appointed CEO of Microsoft’s AI division. Since then, the Copilot experience noticeably declined. However, after six months under Suleyman’s leadership, Microsoft has finally updated Copilot with a refreshing look.
It’s a significant change from the previous user interface that followed Microsoft’s traditional design language. The new Copilot has a card-based UI with rounded corners and high-quality visuals on the homepage. In my brief usage, Copilot felt a bit more personal. It’s inviting and friendly.
In case you are wondering where you have seen this interface before, well, Suleyman’s previous startup, Inflection AI, has a strikingly similar design on its Pi chatbot (visit). The Pi chatbot is all about personal AI and that is reflected in the new Copilot too.
You can now also voice chat with Copilot Voice which promises natural interaction just like ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode. I tried to talk to Copilot Voice, but currently, it’s facing heavy traffic so there is that.
Next, Microsoft unveiled Copilot Vision which will allow you to browse the web along with Copilot Vision. It can see what is on your screen, you can chat with it and ask for suggestions, ideas, and more. Microsoft says it’s an experimental feature and will be available under Copilot Labs to Copilot Pro users only.
Copilot Vision will be coming to the Edge browser and initially, it will work on select websites. Also, it will be an opt-in feature so users can decide if they want to share their screen with Copilot Vision or not. Not to mention, after the Windows Recall fiasco, Microsoft says Copilot Vision will process all data locally, on the device.
Apart from that, Microsoft has also added something called “Copilot Daily” which is an AI-powered news presenter. Basically, you can listen to news from around the world on Copilot’s homepage in an AI-generated voice. There are four AI voices available — Canyon, Grove, Meadow, and Wave.
As for which OpenAI model is powering the new Microsoft Copilot, it’s tough to say right now, but in my brief testing, it correctly answered all complex reasoning questions I threw at it which is remarkable. Unlike OpenAI o1 models, it doesn’t take much time to ‘think’, yet it gets the answer right in one try. I am very much impressed by the AI model powering the new Copilot.
Microsoft further says Copilot will get an experimental feature called ‘Think Deeper’ in the coming days, as part of Copilot Labs features. It will take some time to ‘think’ just like OpenAI o1 models to solve complex queries. And just like Copilot Vision, it will be exclusive to paid Copilot Pro users.
So have you tried the revamped Copilot yet? Head over to copilot.microsoft.com (visit) or download the Copilot app on Android or iOS, and let us know what you think.
