ARTICLE

What Is Microsoft Copilot And What Can It Do For You?

18 June, 2024 - 4 min read

You deserve a personal assistant to make life and work easier, and now you've got one. Your assistant is an expert in all of your Microsoft programs and its only job is to make everything you do on your laptop simpler, more creative and more productive. Microsoft Copilot is at your service.

Copilot is Microsoft’s answer to the global boom in generative AI. What’s exciting about Microsoft AI, though, is that you can now find it embedded in the latest Microsoft Surface laptops and Surface Pro 2-in-1s. Dubbed Copilot+ PCs, these future-proofed, AI-powered devices are ready to help you quickly recall files, draft emails, take meeting notes or edit your photos at the click of a button (or voice command!).

“Microsoft Copilot is a highly intuitive AI assistant and Windows 11 is the first PC platform to truly integrate this smart tech into everyday computing,” says Jason Tavoletti, The Good Guys Buyer – Tech.

“If you regularly use Microsoft Office, take meetings in Microsoft Teams or use Outlook to send email, Copilot AI is going to revolutionise the way you work. In fact, 77 per cent of users said once they used Copilot, they didn’t want to give it up!”

Want to know more? We sat down with our tech experts at The Good Guys to answer all of your burning questions about Microsoft Copilot and Copilot+ PCs.

How To Get Microsoft Copilot

To get the best of the tech, upgrade to a Microsoft Surface 7 or Surface Pro 11, known as Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft describes these slim, lightweight and powerful devices as “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever”. Developed with AI hardware and support for several innovative AI functions, they also include a new Copilot launch key on the keyboard.

“We’ve all seen the incredible pace with which AI is becoming integrated into our technology, and these devices put you at the cutting edge of that innovation,” says Jason Tavoletti.

“An AI-powered PC lets you perform tasks you can't do on any other PC – think searching and retrieving that PowerPoint presentation that you created two years ago, or live translating more than 40 languages to help you land that international business deal – and since the AI functionality is built in, you get a virtually real-time response.

“It’s almost impossible to fathom, but these uniquely designed devices can perform more than 40 trillion operations per second and keep powering on with a long-lasting battery.”

Shop Copilot+ PCs

SHOP THE NEW COPILOT+ PCs HERE

How To Use Copilot

Want to get more done, faster? That’s exactly what Copilot is for and using it couldn’t be simpler. Copilot takes both text and voice prompts and can be launched using the Copilot key, the shortcut Windows + C, or by clicking the Copilot icon in the task bar.

It’s also important to familiarise yourself with Copilot’s three specific conversation styles, which you can select when you make a prompt – More Creative, More Balanced and More Precise.

“For example, if you are asking Copilot to help rewrite and summarise your meeting notes, a More Precise assistant is going to be the most accurate. But, if you need Copilot to add a background to an image – like a cool office setting for your LinkedIn headshot – then More Creative will likely give you better results,” says David Linehan, The Good Guys Buyer – Software.

Copilot Tips And Tricks

Like with any generative AI program, the better you become at interacting with Copilot the more useful it becomes.

“If you want to find a banana bread recipe, Copilot will quickly find plenty from the web. But, if what you really want is the gluten-free banana bread recipe that your co-worker sent via a Teams chat last month, Copilot is going to save you a lot of time by locating and recalling it for you,”says David Linehan.

Wondering how to use Copilot in Office 365? Here are five more ways Microsoft AI can help drive efficiency and improve your productivity across some of the most-used Microsoft programs.

Word: Summarise a document, create a draft or edit text
Excel: Generate fast data analysis from large data sets
PowerPoint: Automatically draft a deck from an existing Word doc
Outlook: Have emails drafted for you
Teams: Recap meetings and find information

How Good Is Microsoft Copilot?

It’s a question Microsoft was keen to answer too – so it surveyed a group of its first users, who trialled Copilot at work, and the results are in:

70 per cent of Copilot users said they were more productive
Users were 29 per cent faster in a series of searching, writing and summarising tasks
64% of users said Copilot helps them spend less time processing email
85 per cent of users said Copilot helps them get to a good first draft faster
75 per cent of users said Copilot “saves me time by finding whatever I need in my files”
77 per cent of users said once they used Copilot, they didn’t want to give it up!

When Is Copilot Available?

If you’ve got your heart set on a new Copilot Plus PC, The Good Guys has you covered with the Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11.

When it’s time to upgrade your personal tech, The Good Guys has a huge range of Microsoft software, laptops, tablets and 2-in-1s plus all the expert knowledge to help you choose the right device for you. Visit us in-store or online now.