Microsoft has just revealed a new expressive avatar for Copilot, and it’s called Mico. This is a digital helper that finally replaces the spirit of the well-loved Clippy in a way we never saw Cortana take on. This new pet admittedly makes Copilot much more approachable, and it’s hard not to like it.
Mico, whose name is a nod to “Microsoft” and “Copilot”, isn’t just a static icon like Cortana mostly was. It can emote, change shape, and float around the Copilot interface while you’re talking to it. It even changes colors to reflect your interactions, almost like a mood ring for your computer.
Mico is customizable, which is fun, and it will pop up when you are in a voice chat with Copilot, using the mobile app, or using Copilot in Microsoft Edge. Honestly, it sounds much better than what we currently have, because it’s hard to see a chat as anything but hollow or cold when it’s just a bunch of text. I tried using it, but it’s still rolling out to everyone.
This is a massive step up from a simple paperclip, and makes you view Copilot as less of an empty cold computer program, and more like a pet that reacts to your conversation. It’s enabled by default when using Copilot’s voice mode, but you can turn it off if you need a break. The new Copilot with Mico is available in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., but expect a rollout to other places in the next few weeks.
This update isn’t just about a cute new face for your AI, though; it also brings some new features to Copilot. One of the biggest is long-term memory. This means Copilot can now keep track of important information about you and recall it during future interactions. No more repeating things like, “I’m training for a marathon,” every time you ask a question about meal planning or training, for example.
Copilot can gain more context about your life and work through Connectors that let you link services like Outlook, Gmail, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Of course, you’ll need to give it explicit consent, and it has built-in privacy controls, but the AI could answer questions about your inbox or find documents and events, which sounds incredibly useful.
For those of you working on group projects or just collaborating with friends, Microsoft also introduced a new Groups feature. You can now invite up to 32 people to a Copilot session for real-time collaboration. The AI will help keep everyone aligned by summarizing threads, proposing options, and even tallying votes and splitting tasks, kind of like an assistant working on the project. Just start a session and send a link to your collaborators.
If you’re a student, the new Learn Live feature is something you’re likely going to want to check out. This makes Copilot more of a tutor like Socratis, guiding you by asking questions instead of just giving the answers. It can even pull up interactive whiteboards to help with studying or practicing a new language.
The Edge browser is also getting some attention, with Microsoft working to change it to be more like an AI browser, similar to what ChatGPT is currently doing. This would be able to see your tabs, summarize and compare information, and even take action for you on things like filling out forms or booking a hotel. Either way, this seems like a big update to push AI for Microsoft, but at least we’re getting a nice little pet.
Source: Microsoft via Axios
