Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI-powered Copilot is getting a major update that the company says makes it feel more personal, and that includes giving it a name and face.
Mico, short for Microsoft Copilot, is designed to be the personification of the AI chatbot, listening and reacting to your chats by changing its expression and color. Mico looks a bit like an anthropomorphic diamond, though Microsoft says it’s also customizable.
If this is giving you flashbacks to Microsoft’s Clippy, you’re in good company; I thought the same thing. In fact, Microsoft joked about the idea of giving Copilot an avatar during its 50th anniversary celebration in April, even going so far as to reference Clippy.
And while the digital assistant for Microsoft’s Office during the late ’90s and early 2000s was maligned for being unhelpful at the time, the public’s perception of Clippy has since come full circle, turning into a kind of icon for the brand’s most dedicated users.
Unlike Clippy, however, Mico is powered by Copilot, which should make it far more useful for users. You can also choose not to use the avatar.
In addition to giving Copilot a name and face, Microsoft says it’s also updating the AI bot to be empathetic and supportive, but not sycophantic, ensuring it will push back on certain requests. The company is also adding a new real talk option that it says “challenges assumptions with care, adapts to your vibe, and helps conversations spark growth and connection,” which sounds a lot like a bot that will call you out if your questions or statements are too outlandish.
Experts and parents have criticized chatbots like OpenAI’s (OPAI.PVT) ChatGPT for becoming too sycophantic, leading some users to fall into delusional rabbit holes that can upend their lives.
In April, OpenAI had to roll back an update for its GPT-4o that caused it to become sycophantic, providing users with responses that were “overly supportive but disingenuous.”
In addition to conversational changes, the latest Copilot update includes a groups option that allows you to invite up to 32 friends or coworkers into a Copilot chat to collaborate with the bot in a single space. The idea is to allow everyone to brainstorm and make plans for tackling a work project or put together an itinerary for a vacation in one space while being able to lean on Copilot for questions and requests.
Copilot will also now include features like memory and personalization that will let you reference old conversations with the bot. You’ll also be able to link services like Microsoft’s Outlook and OneDrive, as well as Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Gmail, Drive, and Calendar, letting you pull up information from them through Copilot with natural voice conversation.
Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI-powered Copilot is getting a major update that the company says makes it feel more personal, and that includes giving it a name and face.
Mico, short for Microsoft Copilot, is designed to be the personification of the AI chatbot, listening and reacting to your chats by changing its expression and color. Mico looks a bit like an anthropomorphic diamond, though Microsoft says it’s also customizable.
If this is giving you flashbacks to Microsoft’s Clippy, you’re in good company; I thought the same thing. In fact, Microsoft joked about the idea of giving Copilot an avatar during its 50th anniversary celebration in April, even going so far as to reference Clippy.
And while the digital assistant for Microsoft’s Office during the late ’90s and early 2000s was maligned for being unhelpful at the time, the public’s perception of Clippy has since come full circle, turning into a kind of icon for the brand’s most dedicated users.
Unlike Clippy, however, Mico is powered by Copilot, which should make it far more useful for users. You can also choose not to use the avatar.
In addition to giving Copilot a name and face, Microsoft says it’s also updating the AI bot to be empathetic and supportive, but not sycophantic, ensuring it will push back on certain requests. The company is also adding a new real talk option that it says “challenges assumptions with care, adapts to your vibe, and helps conversations spark growth and connection,” which sounds a lot like a bot that will call you out if your questions or statements are too outlandish.
Experts and parents have criticized chatbots like OpenAI’s (OPAI.PVT) ChatGPT for becoming too sycophantic, leading some users to fall into delusional rabbit holes that can upend their lives.
In April, OpenAI had to roll back an update for its GPT-4o that caused it to become sycophantic, providing users with responses that were “overly supportive but disingenuous.”
In addition to conversational changes, the latest Copilot update includes a groups option that allows you to invite up to 32 friends or coworkers into a Copilot chat to collaborate with the bot in a single space. The idea is to allow everyone to brainstorm and make plans for tackling a work project or put together an itinerary for a vacation in one space while being able to lean on Copilot for questions and requests.
Copilot will also now include features like memory and personalization that will let you reference old conversations with the bot. You’ll also be able to link services like Microsoft’s Outlook and OneDrive, as well as Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Gmail, Drive, and Calendar, letting you pull up information from them through Copilot with natural voice conversation.
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