Microsoft announced several new features for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Copilot, last week. The Redmond-based tech giant said that these features will enable the AI chatbot to deliver a more personalised experience to users. Some of the new features were previously available only on the web client, and are now being expanded to its mobile and Windows desktop apps. Among the new additions, Copilot is getting memory capability to remember certain details about the user, and an agentic feature that will allow it to complete tasks on the web.
Copilot Is Getting New Personalisation-Focused AI Features
In a blog post, Mustafa Suleyman, Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft AI, announced several new features which are currently being rolled out to Copilot globally. Apart from the abovementioned, these features include the expansion of Copilot Vision, and the addition of Podcasts, Shopping, and Deep Research capabilities.
One of the key features being introduced is Memory. With this, the AI chatbot can remember certain details about the user, such as their favourite food, birthdays of loved ones, as well as their hobbies. The company says Copilot uses this information to build a more personalised experience and offer tailored suggestions and reminders. Users will have the option to control the information Copilot remembers, and they can also opt out entirely.
Microsoft is also working on another personalisation feature that will allow users to give Copilot a custom appearance. While details about the customisability and the method of adding were not shared, Suleyman said users would be able to see this appearance while interacting with the chatbot.
Copilot is also getting an agentic function. Dubbed Actions, this feature will let Copilot complete web-based tasks independently in the background. It can perform tasks such as booking tickets for an event, reserving a restaurant table, or sending a thoughtful gift to a friend. The AI agent is said to work with most websites, and Microsoft has partnered with several brands, including Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, OpenTable, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner, and more.
Microsoft is also expanding Copilot Vision to mobile and Windows desktop apps. It is an image-understanding feature, and it can use the device’s camera to look at the surroundings and answer user queries. The feature can also analyse real-time video from the camera and photos stored in the phone’s gallery. On the desktop, it can also read the screen and interact with the content. Vision will first be introduced for Windows Insider starting next week.
Copilot Pages will also allow users to share their notes, content, and research with the chatbot, and it will organise, format, and simplify it for easier viewing. Users can also ask queries based on the information shared and add the revised information with a single tap.
Similar to Google’s NotebookLM (and now Gemini), Copilot is also getting a podcast creation feature. Dubbed Pocasts, it can create a personalised audio session of content based on the user’s interests. Users can continue to chat with Copilot while listening to the podcast to gain a better understanding of the topic being discussed.
Microsoft is also pitching the AI chatbot as a shopping assistant. It says that Copilot can now perform research, build comparisons, and offer advice when shopping for a specific product. It can also be used to get notifications about price drops and sales. Users will also be able to purchase products directly from the Copilot app.
Finally, two more features are being rolled out — Deep Research and Copilot Search. The former allows users to conduct multi-step research on a complex topic and prepare a comprehensive report, while the latter is available in Bing and offers a unified experience of traditional search and generative search. Copilot Search shows detailed responses in Bing with cited sources and website suggestions for deeper understanding.
