Microsoft will test the limits of artificial intelligence in group collaboration with a new AI assistant that keeps meetings on track, takes collaborative notes, manages large projects, and assigns tasks.
The company says the new “Team Copilot” expands its Copilot AI technology beyond its existing function as a one-on-one personal assistant, to play a larger role inside organizations.
For anyone with qualms about taking direction or assignments from an AI bot, the company noted that people are ultimately in control — with the ability to ignore or override the choices or assignments made by the Team Copilot. They can also turn the tables and assign tasks to the Team Copilot instead, as the situation requires.
It’s part of a broader effort by Microsoft to expand the capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which costs businesses an additional $30/user per month on top of the existing price of Microsoft 365 licenses.
Microsoft announced the Teams Copilot feature at its Build developer conference in Seattle on Tuesday morning, along with a new wave of tools and technologies for creating, deploying, and integrating AI technologies. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others are competing aggressively in AI to expand the footprints of their cloud platforms.
The company says Team Copilot will be available in Microsoft Teams, Loop, and Planner, among other programs. It’s slated to be released in preview later this year, requiring a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to access.
