The new Copilot AI experience makes it difficult for Microsoft to state its case against OpenAI's offering: "Until they bring back the old version I will be going back to ChatGPT"

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Microsoft's latest update for its Copilot assistant has left a bad taste in users' screens and responses.

The updated Copilot app for Android on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 (2024).
The updated Copilot app for Android on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 (2024). (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft recently released a new update for Copilot that features a "warm and inviting" user interface, an immersive chat experience, and more.
  • As the update rolls out to more users, several complaints have surfaced on social media about the overhauled experience, including a degraded user experience, low-quality responses, and more.
  • Windows Central has contacted Microsoft to comment on the highlighted issues. 

Microsoft pushed a massive update to its Copilot AI assistant this week, including next-gen features like Copilot Vision, which can browse the web in Edge, and new experiences that blur AI and human interaction. 

The update also overhauled Copilot, with a new interface designed to be "warm and inviting" and offering an immersive chat experience. It's worth noting that some of these features are buried behind Microsoft's Copilot Pro service, making it paramount to have the $20 subscription plan to access them.

The new Copilot UI running in the Windows 11 app (2024). (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

It's possible that some users haven't accessed the overhauled Copilot experience, which is rolling out in waves on Windows, iOS, Android, and the web. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a pause on new Copilot experiences so that it could allocate more time and resources to improving existing ones. 

Microsoft seems to have gotten over the hump, having recently debuted new experiences, including Copilot Pages and Copilot agents. However, multiple Copilot users have taken to social media to express their frustrations over the newly updated Copilot.

Copilot Pro | $20 at Microsoft Store

Copilot Pro | $20 at Microsoft Store

Copilot Pro builds on the free version and offers better performance and priority access during peak times. It also has more image creator boosts that let you create more AI-generated images in a single day. Copilot Pro also enables AI features in Office apps, something the free version doesn't have.

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Microsoft's new Copilot experience is making all the wrong impressions

Microsoft Copilot app is being displayed on a smartphone (Image credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto)

According to the comments highlighted in the r/CopilotPro subreddit on Reddit, Copilot's new user interface isn't a welcome change. As highlighted by one of the aggrieved users:

"Is it just me or do y'all hate the new copilot update? The original layout was so good and the original voice was really good, the new update is so confusing and the new voices are annoying. I used to use copilot for everything, and im talking everything. Until they bring back the old version i will be going back to ChatGPT."

Interestingly, Microsoft insiders revealed that the top complaint about Copilot is that it does not work as well as ChatGPT. Microsoft has countered this feedback by claiming users aren't leveraging Copilot's capabilities as intended, hence the disparity. The tech giant shifted the blame to a lack of proper prompt engineering skills, but it recently launched Copilot Academy to address some of these issues.  

The new copilot update is bad from r/CopilotPro

Another user indicated that Copilot's experience "went from 10 to 0 overnight" after the latest update shipped. The user highlighted the following as some of the annoyances with the update:

"Answers aren't hyperlinked with sources anymore. You can't change languages in-app anymore. You can't set two languages to talk or ask things anymore. You can't switch from creative to precise to moderate modes anymore. The voice to text icon doesn't work at all. Answers are dumber."

Major tech corporations like OpenAI and Microsoft have found themselves in the corridors of justice, battling copyright infringement issues. Publishers and authors have blatantly accused these companies of ripping off their work without authorization, compensation, or attribution.

Copilot got ruined from r/CopilotPro

Ironically, an AI artist recently complained to the US Copyright Office after reportedly losing millions of dollars from people ripping off his AI-generated work. The same artist used AI to generate paintings that saw him win a contest in Colorado in 2022. Other competitors deemed his creations as unconventional, but the artists indicated:

"I'm not going to apologize for it. I won, and I didn't break any rules. This isn't going to stop. Art is dead, dude. It's over. AI won. Humans lost."

In the artist's submissions via his lawyers, the US Copyright Office's reluctance to register his AI-generated collection as copyrighted content has left him with the shorter end of the stick, allowing repeated stealing of his work without attribution or compensation. The artist further claims prompt engineering and scene-selecting skills should be considered creative input or human authorship.

As you may know, with the emergence and adoption of AI, it's becoming increasingly difficult to draw the line between copyrighted content and AI-generated work, especially as AI models become more capable. 

AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot heavily rely on internet sources for training, which continues to be a pressure point for the companies behind them and publishers. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted developing tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted content is impossible. He further supported his claims by indicating copyright law doesn't prohibit using copyrighted content to train AI models. 

At least, it's not all bad. As pointed out by one Reddit user, Microsoft has seemingly fixed Copilot's image input feature:

 "If you'd used the Image input feature in both the old Copilot and ChatGPT, it became very clear very quickly that the Images were not being fed straight to the model like ChatGPT resulting in a pretty terrible implementation where it would completely hallucinate/fail to describe images ChatGPT nailed. With the revamp, this is gone and Image Input is working like it should now."

copilotpro from r/CopilotPro

These are some of the highlighted issues with Copilot's new update. Have you encountered problems with the refreshed Copilot UI, and how is the new user experience in general?

Windows Central has reached out to Microsoft for comment about old features that are coming back to the new Copilot experience. We'll keep you posted on new developments as they roll out. 

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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
  • xenred
    Hopefully they get this updated fast. This is the issue with Microsoft when remaking the existing product that it looses alot of features in the process and takes long time to bring it back, or it's not as polished or good when it brings it back, or simply never at all without good replacement.

    The new Copilot UI is awesome, but as MS fashion it lacks polished that sometimes the app doesn't pick up the mic at all during conversations for no reasons. And yeah the lack of those features that makes Copilot more unique and powerful is somehow gone.
    Reply
  • nop
    New Copilot is *much* faster than b4 (both desktop and app) BUT to see history is harder (two steps forward, and one step back IMO)
    Reply
  • cepowell
    After a couple of days of disappointment, I've learned to use it to get results as I did on the previous version. Today, it can see text in images -- it couldn't for a few days. I can now snip the screen, "+" submit from the screenshot folder, and it gives me the trained formatted response and proceed. The Android version should have speaker control the same as the phone app.
    Reply