Copilot was too smart to fall for a \u201cRick Astley prank\u201d<\/p>\n
When I invoked Copilot\u2019s audio mode by clicking the microphone icon in Copilot for Windows \u2013 the app that\u2019s built into Windows 11 \u2013 the OS presented a similar voice agent without any avatar. And that\u2019s a shame, because without Mico you miss out on interacting with something that looks like the unholy offspring of a Herculoid<\/a> and a toasted marshmallow.<\/p>\n Mico – Click to enlarge<\/p>\n After launching Mico, I saw an avatar which moves around and makes facial expressions while it\u2019s talking to you.<\/p>\n My Mico had a female British accent, which appears to be the default. However, when I clicked the settings icon, the AI offered me the choice of eight different voices with names such as Birch, Meadow, Rain, and Canyon. Some sounded male, some spoke with British accents, and others were clearly American. I wanted a deep Scottish accent, but I guess they don’t have that. I was also able to change Mico\u2019s color scheme by clicking on a palette icon in the top right corner of the screen.<\/p>\n I asked Mico to explain photosynthesis to me and \u201cshe\u201d did a good job of summarizing the science behind the process \u2013 but without presenting text so I could read what she was saying rather than just having to follow it with my ears.<\/p>\n The real magic happens when you stick your mouse pointer on top of Mico and quickly click several times. Then the avatar turns into Clippy. It\u2019s still Mico, mind you, but with a Clippy skin, which means a lot to anyone who used Office toward the end of the last millennium.<\/p>\n Mico with a Clippy skin – Click to enlarge<\/p>\n Beyond skins, what’s new?<\/p>\n The face of Mico and the hidden Clippy skin were cosmetic, but Redmond announced many more substantive changes as well. In a video<\/a> about the new Fall Release features, a group of Microsoft product managers laid out a host of new Copilot capabilities.<\/p>\n Copilot Groups is a new feature that allows you to invite other users into your AI conversation so you can do something like plan a trip together. I made this work by clicking the invite button in the upper right corner of the window after which it gave me a link to share with a coworker who was able to become part of a shared conversation.<\/p>\n Product Manager Ella Steckler touted Copilot\u2019s new and improved memory, which allows it to recall details about you across sessions.<\/p>\n I noticed this after I tried to plan a Cancun vacation in Copilot for Edge. I opened Copilot for Windows (the built-in Windows 11 app) and asked it where I was planning to go and it remembered two sessions in which I had chatted about different trips. Creepily, at one point, I opened up the voice assistant (the one without Mico) and it asked me if I wanted to finish planning my trip right away.<\/p>\n This made Copilot feel a bit like a pushy salesman.<\/p>\n I also asked Copilot Mode in Edge to help me plan a trip to Cancun. After it gave me several hotel options and some advice about sightseeing, I asked it to book me a room at the Waldorf Astoria Riviera Maya. It then took a few minutes and came back to me with a price per night and total. And it gave me a button to click to switch to a new tab in which Copilot had already set the dates of my stay \u2013 all I had to do was enter payment information and my personal info to complete booking. I didn\u2019t mention which dates I wanted, but for whatever reason Copilot assumed that I\u2019d want to begin my stay on December 10, get an ocean front room, and complete my trip on December 16.<\/p>\n While this may be impressive technically, I really didn\u2019t like the AI making so many decisions for me. In the absence of information like travel dates, it should just ask when I want to go and what kind of room I want.<\/p>\n Steckler also talked about Copilot Connectors, which allow Copilot to work with other apps such as Outlook, OneDrive, Gmail, or even Google Drive. She then showed a screen with a list of connectors you can pair with Copilot and gave the examples of asking her calendar about a doctor\u2019s appointment or querying which files in her Google Drive concern American history.<\/p>\n I accessed the connector feature by clicking \u201cConnect to other apps\u201d on the Fall Release page<\/a>, then followed the invitation prompt to connect my Gmail to Copilot. It then allowed me to ask questions about my emails which I did by asking it to identify my most recent email in Gmail. It responded by giving me an accurate subject line, “from” field, and “received” date.<\/p>\n Copilot Connector reading my latest email – Click to enlarge<\/p>\n How are you feeling?<\/p>\n Steckler said that 40 percent of Copilot users each week ask health-related questions. To accommodate them, Microsoft is working with medical professionals such as Harvard Health on its Copilot Health initiative to deliver \u201cgrounded answers” and help you “navigate sensitive medical topics.\u201d She said that Copilot had helped her find a good, female dermatologist in her area and that it can now consider facts such as which doctors take your insurance, their qualifications, and customer ratings.<\/p>\n This health feature worked adequately when I asked Copilot for Windows to find me a dermatologist who takes my insurance. It gave a list of three doctors with links to pages about those doctors on ZocDoc, Sutter Health, and Medical News Today. It was clear that Copilot was simply pulling information from the web and presenting it to me as bulleted lists, but it saved me the time of doing that browsing myself.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a new feature called Copilot Learn Live that uses Copilot\/Mico to explain concepts to you like photosynthesis (the example they gave) to help users research topics of interest. I accessed this study mode from the Fall Release page and had an enlightening conversation with Mico about how USB works.<\/p>\n![\"Mico\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mico1.jpg\" "\\"Mico\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Mico](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mico2.jpg\" "\\"Mico")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Copilot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mico3.jpg\" "\\"Copilot")
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![\"Copilot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mico4.jpg\" "\\"Copilot")
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