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What, exactly, is the goal and purpose of Copilot?

Anonymous
2025-04-24T22:38:18+00:00

No really. Put down the Kool-Aid for a second and listen.

Copilot is nothing more than a glorified Bing search that then uses it's LLM to parse the results in a "readable" format. It's nothing more than aggregating it's own searches. It's actually baffling that I can't use Copilot to ask questions about how to do things within Microsoft products.

Example: I'm trying to do some stuff in EAC and I'm not 100% clear on the particular issue. It's outside of my day-to-day activities. I try running a few searches through Google, but my search is a bit specific, and hard to narrow down without the search string getting unruly. Know what's good for that? LLMs.

What continues to blow my mind is that Copilot is completely incapable of generating any kind of reasonable responses about other Microsoft products. It seems to me like Copilot would be a GREAT agent for supporting Microsoft products. Yet, every time I try to do anything with Copilot, it just runs it's own Bing search and simply parses the results. That's completely unhelpful. I can see the exact same information myself by doing the exact same search. I'm gaining nothing from it. Asking clarifying questions, or narrowing the request down further results in "Sorry, here's the same search results again."

It seems to me that this is a hugely wasted opportunity. Microsoft should ostensibly be the experts on their products. The amount of money thrown around at developers and tech writers suggests to me that there is a LOT of expertise that could be ingested by Copilot's LLM and then used to actively support Microsoft products. This feels like a massively wasted opportunity, and instead is just trying to prop up a second-tier search product with a second-tier AI product.

If I want it to spit out boilerplate code, fine. If I want it to "professionalize" an e-mail, fine. But beyond that, it's useless.

I'm struggling to see the point of this product at all. If I can get better information about Microsoft products from a third party, that is an absolute fail.

Copilot is like the little brother that your mom makes you take along so they don't feel bad.

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-07-16T20:41:37+00:00

    You didn't answer the question. What, exactly, DOES Copilot do?

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-29T22:05:52+00:00

    Hello.

    We haven't heard from you, so we assume that your issue has already been addressed. We will not be monitoring this thread moving forward so, if you need further assistance, please create a new thread to discuss these concerns by clicking this link: Create a new question (microsoft.com)

    Thank you for understanding.

    Best Regards,

    JK

    Microsoft Community

    Moderator

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-04-25T18:19:43+00:00

    Hello Nick,

    Good morning,

    Welcome to Microsoft Community, we are here to help

    I appreciate your candid thoughts. You're essentially saying that Copilot’s current implementation feels like nothing more than a layer over web search results—taking Bing’s output, reformatting it, and then serving it back. And when it comes to highly specialized topics—like navigating nuances in EAC or other Microsoft products—it seems to fall short of genuine, expert-level guidance.

    There are a few reasons for this state of affairs:

    1. Design and Data Boundaries: Integrating an LLM with proprietary platform details—especially complex ones like Microsoft’s internal product nuances—requires more than just aggregating search results. In many cases, the data available publicly isn’t deep or structured enough to support detailed, context-specific questions. Microsoft’s internal experts and technical writers hold a wealth of nuanced knowledge. Leveraging that expertise directly via an AI agent would be ideal, but it challenges data availability, security, and the sheer complexity of the products.
    2. Safety and Accuracy: When providing technical guidance, especially on something critical like an administrative console (EAC), accuracy is paramount. Relying solely on parsed web results comes with risks: outdated information or hints that might not work for your specific setup. Copilot’s current design, which prioritizes returning verifiable data from established sources, might appear limited when it simply repackages search results rather than offering deep troubleshooting or synthesis from extensive internal documentation.
    3. Scope of Use Cases: There’s merit in the criticism that an ideal assistant for Microsoft products should natively incorporate comprehensive, context-aware expertise. What you’re describing would be a tool that actively “understands” intricate product details—not unlike an expert system built on top of rich internal data. That vision is compelling and certainly hints at a future where such integration may be feasible. However, as of now, the primary focus has been on general productivity—in areas like code generation or email refinement—rather than deep technical support for all Microsoft products.
    4. User Feedback and Evolution: Your feedback is exactly the type that helps drive product evolution. If the goal is to create an agent that can operate as a knowledgeable product support assistant, there’s clearly an opportunity for Microsoft to invest in integrating the deep, curated expertise of its documentation and support teams directly into Copilot’s model. Your observations suggest that for specialized tasks, a more refined, domain-specific approach is needed rather than the broad brush of aggregated search data.

    In summary, while the current version of Copilot can indeed be useful for generic tasks like generating boilerplate code or polishing communications, it struggles to replace the role of a domain expert—especially for specialized Microsoft product queries. The promise of LLMs for more specialized, intelligent support is tremendous, and your frustration highlights a gap between potential and current reality. It’s a “massively wasted opportunity,” as you put it, if users who rely on deep technical insights don’t find the help they need.

    It's possible that future iterations may better integrate detailed internal knowledge and have mechanisms to answer highly technical and specific questions around Microsoft products, reducing this reliance on search aggregation. In the meantime, using a mix of official support channels, community forums, and available documentation might still be essential for digging into those tougher issues.

    Is there a particular Microsoft product or issue you’re trying to get deeper help with right now? I'd be happy to help guide you through it in this conversation.

    Best Regards,

    JK

    Microsoft Community

    Moderator

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