Quick fixes to boost your Copilot responses

Hi Elin, 

Thanks for sharing! :) Same here. It's a common challenge. I get the same question regularly. 

The first thing I usually say is: "Even though both use GPT-4o, M365 Copilot Chat is not chatGPT. "

Then I build on that, focusing on the differences and advantages of M365 Copilot:

• Seamless Integration with Microsoft 365 productivity apps
• Enterprise Data Protection
• Enhanced contextual understanding, M365 Copilot is the single point of contact for work life. It knows about your meetings, your files, your conversations, and who you are building network within your organization.

It's important here to stay focused on the purpose of the tools. chatGPT is optimized for different purposes than M365 Copilot chat. M365 Copilot chat is optimized to provide clear, compliant, and contextually relevant answers. 

I prompted both tools (chatGPT pro and M365 Copilot chat) to help me brainstorm about accurate ways to answer customers the question.

😍 Here my favorite answer is by M365 Copilot chat. It even gave an idea for like a comic image chatGPT vsus. Copilot by stating this:

• chatGPT may feel more “free-flowing” because it’s not always bound by the same enterprise-grade constraints.
  
  

Here are the answers for your information:

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Answer by M365 Copilot chat  [web]:

Why ChatGPT Might Feel "Better" Than Copilot in Some Cases
Different Contexts, Different Goals

ChatGPT is optimized for open-ended, general-purpose conversations. It’s designed to be flexible, creative, and responsive to a wide range of prompts.
Copilot, especially in Microsoft 365 apps, is optimized for productivity tasks—like summarizing emails, generating documents, or analyzing spreadsheets. It’s more context-aware but also more task-focused.
Prompt Interpretation and Guardrails

Copilot often operates with stricter safety and compliance filters, especially in enterprise environments. This can make it seem more “cautious” or “limited” in how it responds.
ChatGPT may feel more “free-flowing” because it’s not always bound by the same enterprise-grade constraints.
Context Awareness in Apps

In tools like Word, Excel, or Outlook, Copilot uses live document context to generate responses. This is powerful but also means it might not respond to general prompts the same way ChatGPT does, because it’s prioritizing in-app relevance.
User Expectations and Interface Design

ChatGPT’s interface encourages exploration and creativity. Copilot’s UI is often more structured, which can lead users to expect more “buttoned-up” answers.
Users may not realize that Copilot Chat (like in Edge or Windows) is closer to ChatGPT, but still tuned for productivity and safety.

Answer by chatGPT: 

1. Purpose and Optimization of the Models

ChatGPT: Designed primarily for open-ended, general-purpose conversations, ChatGPT is optimized to handle a wide range of topics and provide detailed responses, even to vague prompts.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: Tailored for productivity and enterprise tasks, Copilot Chat focuses on integrating with Microsoft 365 applications and providing concise, task-oriented assistance. This specialization may lead to more succinct responses in general conversational contexts.

2. Context Window and Memory

ChatGPT: Offers a larger context window, allowing it to consider more information from the conversation history, which helps in generating comprehensive responses.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: Has limitations on the amount of context it can process, especially when dealing with lengthy documents or extended conversations. For instance, when summarizing or referencing content, it's recommended to keep the total to a maximum of 1.5 million words or 300 pages to ensure effective performance. 
Microsoft Support

3. Prompt Engineering and Default Behavior

ChatGPT: Engineered to interpret and expand upon user prompts, even when they are brief or ambiguous, aiming to provide thorough answers.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: May require more precise prompts to generate detailed responses, as it is designed to operate within the structured environment of enterprise applications.

4. Training and Fine-Tuning Differences

ChatGPT: Trained on a diverse dataset encompassing a broad spectrum of topics, enabling it to handle a wide array of queries effectively.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: Fine-tuned with a focus on business and professional language, which may limit its versatility in general conversational scenarios.

5. Risk and Compliance Constraints

ChatGPT: Operates with fewer restrictions, allowing for more creative and expansive outputs.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: Adheres to strict data privacy and compliance standards, especially within enterprise environments, which can result in more conservative and concise responses.