Microsoft Integrates AI Copilot into OneNote for Enhanced Productivity

Microsoft has announced that it will integrate its Copilot AI system into its note-taking app OneNote as part of its ongoing mission to save workers time on repetitive and mundane tasks. Despite sitting somewhat awkwardly between Word, Teams, Outlook, and the rest of its Windows productivity suite, the company claims that Copilot will integrate with other 365 apps and internal context to deliver a number of key features.

According to OneNote product manager Greg MacEachern, Copilot, powered by GPT-4, will “unlock productivity, unleash creativity, and uplevel your skills” in the app. The AI system will help users to create, capture, organize, and recall information in OneNote, performing tasks such as reformatting text, summarizing and simplifying notes, and highlighting important information.

Despite Copilot gradually being added to more and more Microsoft products, the system remains in private preview to selected customers for now, with most users waiting with anticipation for general availability. The company has not provided any details for a Copilot launch, but it’s likely that Microsoft wants to ensure the tool is working correctly before putting it into the hands of millions.

However, this may be sooner rather than later as the race for AI dominance continues to unfold. Last month, Google teased how it would integrate AI into its free office software after what was at best an embarrassing reveal for its chatbot, Bard.

To avoid similar backlash, Microsoft has detailed some of the measures it has taken to create a responsible Copilot, including noting limitations, providing links to sources, and prompting users to review, fact-check, and fine-tune content based on their own knowledge and judgment.