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The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

zdnet.com

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Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#271

Post by cbozeman »

phren0logy wrote: post #2

Given how hard Microsoft is leaning into AI, and how important Office 365 is, the Copilot for 365 is shockingly bad.

It's shockingly bad because of how they want it to behave. They don't want it to bullshit, they don't want it to say rowdy things, and they want it stay "on brand".

Well too bad. These things are all modeled after human beings... they're literally called large language models. Human beings bullshit, they say rowdy things, and they don't always stay on brand.

The only way to have an exceptional AI is you actually "raise" (train) it like you would a normal human being. That's being learned with the quality of Deepseek's models, although I think they're lying through their teeth about how much it cost to train it. It's in China's interest to bullshit on that metric, so they're bullshitting.

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#272

Post by Spooky23 »

alsetmusic wrote: post #133
for_i_in_range wrote: post #8

Hate that if you use Word for Mac, you now have Copilot next to your cursor with no way of turning it off. I just want to use Word. I like its print layout features better than Pages. I don't want to switch. Just let me write and leave me alone. Now they're jamming AI down my throat without any opt-out mechanism.

My company is blocking it. I don’t know by what mechanism, so it may only be possible with an enterprise license or through device management. But I know it’s possible because I’m on the email thread where someone sought guidance from management and the directive was affirmed to block it on Macs in our fleet.

It’s really expensive for enterprise — like about the same cost as M365 E3!

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#273

Post by rsynnott »

ramoz wrote: post #211
dunham wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hate that if you use Word for Mac, you now have Copilot next to your cursor with no way of turning it off. They should put it in the bottom corner, next to an animated paperclip instead.

It's honestly disappointing and somewhat strange that they didn't go this route. IP barriers?

Because _everyone hated it_. Now, it seems that everyone also hates copilot, but there is no point pre-dooming it by bringing the dread paperclip back from hell.

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#274

Post by codeduck »

Fr0styMatt88 wrote: post #248
thelittleone wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only did the megacorp CEO's drop the ball on AI... we've got them gloating over widespread firing of engineers due to AI and then quotes like "I'm good for my $80B" like its his own personal money bag. And now they're force feeding crappy alpha AI products. The egos are well out of hand. And they give this group the name "The Magnificent Seven". WTF have we become. We trust these companies to be stewards of AGI/A…

So much this, when you see Zuck or even Jensen Huang saying "software engineers won't be needed anymore" and being excited about it you get pissed off as a software engineer lol. I feel like Microsoft's whole thing with Windows 11 has been "just force the users to do what we want them to do, we know better than they do" so it doesn't surprise me that 365 went the same way. I'm saying this and I'm a person that's usua…

> why such a rush

First mover / Fear of missing out.

Frankly, inclusion of "AI" in a tool is a great way to ensure I don't use it.

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#275

Post by DimmieMan »

malfist wrote: post #229
Neil44 wrote: post #123

Coming next week, another 8 versions of Teams, all called Teams but with subtly different icons and you can only sign into one of them with your license tier

Don't worry, AI will tell you (possibly incorrectly) which one to use

if they could keep it up to date and accurate that might actually be a useful product, albeit a product I shouldn’t need.

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#276

Post by rsynnott »

xigoi wrote: post #131
mrweasel wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was my line of thinking as well. The article pointed out that they rebranded to Office 365, then Microsoft 365 and now Microsoft 365 Copilot. The thing is, no one ever calls it anything but Office, maybe Office 365 if they're being real fancy and specifically want to refer to the subscription service. My take is that Microsoft assumed that everyone is calling it Microsoft 365, which they don't. 30 years of ownin…

Why would shareholders have a problem with it? People with big money currently value AI bullshit more than recognizable branding.

I mean, long-term shareholders might raise an eyebrow; presumably the bubble will, at some point, burst.

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#277

Post by Dalewyn »

Smar wrote: post #204
hcurtiss wrote: post #195

The crazy part to me is that, with a family subscription, the new AI privileges are only available to the primary account holder and not the rest of my family. That’s nuts. > For Microsoft 365 Family subscribers, Copilot will be available to the subscription owner and cannot be shared with others. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2025/01/1...

Maybe they are at least trying to avoid collecting data of underage people...

For the downvoters, parent commenter has a valid point because COPPA[1] exists and it applies to online services like Copilot.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Pr...

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#278

Post by rsynnott »

rUsHeYaFuBu wrote: post #7
phren0logy wrote: post #2

Given how hard Microsoft is leaning into AI, and how important Office 365 is, the Copilot for 365 is shockingly bad.

I think these things have potential to improve over time. If nothing else I do like being able to get a relative quick explanation for how to change some obscure or minute functionality in the Windows OS. Now, would it be better if the Win OS, by default wasn't obnoxiously in the way with the pretense of being "simpler"? Yes! At least there are some truly free OS's out there that keep the interface consistent through…

So release them when they work, if ever. Do not release a broken thing and then go “you must use this, in case it is one day non-shit”.

Re: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a disaster

#280

Post by rsynnott »

smt88 wrote: post #39
tapoxi wrote: post #9

Is this the absolute death of the high school essay? Even if you didn't want to cheat by avoiding ChatGPT, AI is now right there, in your word processor, and you have no way of turning it off.

I think it's the death of essays and also of reading. Why read a book when AI can read it for you? Teachers I know have already seen this happening.

I mean, summaries of books have existed for, pretty much, as long as books. People still read books.
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