Microsoft says OpenAI's ChatGPT isn't "better" than Copilot; you just aren't using it right, but Copilot Academy is here to help

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"Copilot Academy" will equip users with skills to leverage Microsoft's AI capabilities optimally.

The Microsoft Copilot app is being displayed on a smartphone, with the Microsoft logo visible in the background, in this photo illustration taken in Brussels, Belgium, on December 30, 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft expands Copilot Academy beyond companies with a paid Viva Learning or Viva Suite license and will now be included in the Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
  • A separate report indicated that the top complaint at Microsoft about Copilot AI was that "it doesn't seem to work as well as ChatGPT."
  • Microsoft narrowed down the disparity to a lack of proper prompt engineering practices.

With the rapid advances in generative AI, chatbots have emerged from several companies, including Microsoft's Copilot, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude AI, and more. The former two are arguably the most popular among users. However, users are seemingly more inclined toward OpenAI's offering on mobile, especially after the ChatGPT maker shipped GPT-4o — consequently leading to the "biggest spike ever" in revenue and downloads on mobile.

Avid AI users often boast about ChatGPT's advanced user experience and capabilities compared to Microsoft's Copilot AI offering, although both chatbots are based on OpenAI's technology. Earlier this year, a report disclosed that the top complaint about Copilot AI at Microsoft is that "it doesn't seem to work as well as ChatGPT."

This can be attributed to the fact that ChatGPT has been around for much longer and recently surpassed 200 million weekly active users. On the other hand, a report by Appfigures revealed that Microsoft's poor promotion practices and subtle launch of the Copilot app on mobile hurt its discoverability in the App Store and Google Play Store.

At some point, Microsoft even decided to pump the brakes on shipping new Copilot experiences to focus on improving and enhancing the existing ones. The company announced new Copilot experiences at its special event, including Copilot Pages and Copilot agents.

We aren't "using Copilot as intended," but Copilot Academy is here to help

Windows Copilot key (Image credit: Windows Central)

The report further disclosed that a lack of proper prompt engineering practices prevents users from realizing Copilot's full potential. A Microsoft employee indicated that the quality of Copilot's response depends on how you present your prompt or query. At the time, the tech giant leveraged curated videos to help users improve their prompt engineering skills. 

And now, Microsoft is scaling things a notch higher with Copilot Academy. As you might have guessed, Copilot Academy is a program designed to help businesses learn the best practices when interacting and leveraging the tool's capabilities. 

Microsoft launched Copilot Academy in April but was limited to a paid license with Viva Learning or Viva Suite. However, the program is now available to a broader audience, including businesses with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

The Copilot Academy ships with a ton of features, including:

  • Academy content updates and refinement: We continually assess the value and impact of individual courses. We will periodically add new content as it becomes available, and are always working to ensure the materials provided are helpful and of the highest quality.
  • Copilot Academy nudges (2024 Q4): these Teams notification nudges will encourage new users to try Copilot Academy and keep existing users in the loop for new Copilot Academy updates on a monthly basis.

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Kevin Okemwa
Kevin Okemwa
Contributor

Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You'll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • windows22windows
    I'd have to agree, Copilot is not better, its in the name really, its your copilot so you do things together. Its worked really well for me and I continue to use it, just a shame its a webapp and not deeply integrated into Windows as say the new Siri will be, or Copilot could have been.
    Reply
  • The Werewolf
    You're not holding it right.
    Reply
  • ad47uk
    windows22windows said:
    I'd have to agree, Copilot is not better, its in the name really, its your copilot so you do things together. Its worked really well for me and I continue to use it, just a shame its a webapp and not deeply integrated into Windows as say the new Siri will be, or Copilot could have been.
    Not being deeply integrated into Windows is a good thing, it means it is easy to disable. Apple seems to have added one switch to disable Apple intelligence, we will see how well that works, not that i use Siri on my Mac.
    Reply