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I had Co-Pilot go rogue on me

Bruce Nelson 0 Reputation points
2025-11-12T16:01:17.6566667+00:00

I had given Co-pilot a math problem to solve. When I checked the first result it was wrong. I confronted Co-pilot who told me I was right and it would redo the calculation. It did and still generated the wrong result. I then told it it was wrong and gave it another method to perform the calculation. It agreed on the approach and then proceeded to generate a third wrong result. In the last case when confronted it said it did not use the method requested. It then said it would do the calculation again and verify its results. It then started to recycle the three previously generated wrong results.. When I asked it why it lied, it produced a very interesting output. I only kept doing this as it was interesting. I correctly solved the math problem in about an hour (that I didn't want to spend doing something an AI Chatbot could do!

Microsoft Copilot | Windows Copilot | Copilot+ PC
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  1. Haien-L 7,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-11-12T22:35:06.5866667+00:00

    Dear Bruce Nelson

    Thanks for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A Forum.

    You experienced an incident where Copilot repeatedly failed to solve a complex math problem you provided, despite being corrected and given explicit guidance on the calculation method.

    To help me provide the most specific guidance and check for any known issues (incidents) affecting Copilot, could you please clarify a few things?

    • Which specific platform were you using? (e.g., Copilot in the Edge browser, Windows Copilot accessed via the taskbar, or Copilot in another Microsoft 365 application).
    • What was the nature of the math problem? (e.g., algebra, calculus, statistics, complex number manipulation, or a word problem requiring multiple steps). This helps us understand the complexity and type of reasoning involved.
    • Are you currently using Windows 10 or Windows 11?

    Note: It is important to remember that while Copilot is an incredibly powerful tool for summarizing, drafting, and generating ideas, it is not a guaranteed symbolic calculator. For critical calculations, especially in technical or financial fields, the output should always be verified using a dedicated calculator, spreadsheet, or validated software.

    For additional information, please visit this article to know more: Why does Copilot give incorrect answers to calculations?

    Please keep me updated with anything new that you were try to each option.

    Note: Please follow the steps in Change your Microsoft Q&A preferences | Microsoft Learn to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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