In a blog post, Microsoft gave users an overview of Copilot for OneDrive, which is scheduled to be released in late April. Copilot for OneDrive acts as a research assistant of sorts, allowing you to search, summarize, and extract information from a wide range of files. These include text documents (Word and rich text), presentations, spreadsheets, HTML pages, PDF files, and more. Users can ask her Copilot to adjust the summary to their liking, such as including only the important points or highlights of a particular section.
We’ve known since last fall, when Microsoft announced the third generation of its cloud storage service, that OneDrive’s AI would be overhauled. The company promised that AI would make it easier and faster to search for files and intelligently summarize and organize documents. A user can, for example, ask Copilot to quickly look up tax documents or summarize her boring PowerPoint presentation at work.
Chatbots can also respond to natural language prompts and answer very specific questions about the contents of a user’s files. Examples Microsoft gave included asking Copilot to aggregate his beverage sales for a week and display that data in a daily table view. Or you can list your project’s strengths and weaknesses, or view the latest and related files. Users can also ask her Copilot for advice on how to make their documentation better.
Copilot on OneDrive can also create outlines, tables, and lists for users based on existing files. Here are some examples.
• Create an outline for your sales pitch to new customers using /sales-enablement.docx as a reference.
• Create a table for these selected resumes that includes name, current position, years of experience, education, and current location.
• Create a list of frequently asked questions about the Moonshot project.
OneDrive users will be able to get an early taste of Copilot later this month when Microsoft releases an overview of shared documents. Users can include an AI-generated summary of their Microsoft Word document before sharing, and recipients can read the summary in an email before opening the document.
Copilot is available on OneDrive for Web or from file viewers in Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. Expected availability in late April for work and school customers with Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses.
