Forum Discussion
Microsoft's Copilot: A Frustrating Flop in AI-Powered Productivity
Since the original post was made in August 2024—at a time when Microsoft 365 Copilot was still missing many features—I recommend trying the same functionality again now. Also, it’s important to ensure there’s a clear understanding of what the paid version of Microsoft 365 Copilot is currently capable of.
For example, I’ve seen several comments regarding PowerPoint. I completely understand the frustration when Copilot doesn’t create slides exactly as expected. However, Copilot is currently limited to generating text. Occasionally, if you prompt it to animate a slide, it may attempt to do so—but only in a very basic way.
It’s important to focus on what Copilot can do. Why is this the case? Because in order to respond to your requests, Microsoft had to implement what’s called an “app response” into the product. While the large language model (LLM) can understand your prompt, there also needs to be a corresponding app command implemented to carry out the action. And that’s the key point: not every prompt has a matching app command yet.
Microsoft is actively working on expanding these capabilities, but it will take time.
By the way, back in February 2024, Copilot in PowerPoint was able to change fonts, animations, and transitions. However, due to some issues, those features were temporarily removed.
That said, you're absolutely right—as of now, Copilot cannot create fully polished presentations in terms of design.
Still, I don’t believe it’s fair to say that Copilot “doesn’t work at all.” It’s evolving, and while it has limitations, it also offers real value when used within its current capabilities.
This reply's advice is solid. Copilot feels much more mature now than it did a little more than a year ago. Currently, I implement Copilot into most of my workflow. I rarely Google anything anymore, as I have found CoPilot to generate answers to the questions, I have that are more thorough and tailored to my specific needs. I use it to search for domain names, as it not only lets me know which are available, it offers great suggestions, something other companies try to do with their AI models, but they fall noticeably short when compared to Copilot. I use it to price cloud services/resources. It has even replaced Linux manual pages and in many instances a BASH Shell commands help flag (--help). I rarely use Stack Exchange sites anymore; Copilot helps me find solutions in far less time. It is also helpful when debugging code, or learning a new programming language, runtime platform, API, SDK, library, or framework. It has completely replaced 3rd party learning resources like guides, tutorials, and YouTube videos.
Honestly, the better Copilot becomes, the better I become at my work. At this point it is an indispensable tool for me.
Thank you for your kind words! I completely agree that finding practical use cases is crucial in any AI journey. It's great to hear that you've discovered valuable applications with Copilot.