Best Ways to Use Microsoft’s New Copilot AI App for Android
You’d be forgiven for losing track of what we’ve achieved with Microsoft’s AI chatbot, which, thanks to a partnership with OpenAI, runs on the same technology you use in ChatGPT and DALL-E. Originally called Bing Chat and acting as an extension of Microsoft’s search engine, the bot has since been renamed Copilot.
Copilot is quickly making its way into Windows 11 and various other Microsoft products, and we now have a standalone Android app that you can use. It’s essentially a fork of Bing for Android , retaining the core AI chatbot functionality and some of Bing’s other additional features (like news and shopping offers).
If you’re interested in testing out Copilot’s generative AI capabilities on Android, here’s how to get started with the app and what you need to know about how it works. (There’s no word on a Copilot app for iPhone yet, so if you’re using iOS, you’ll have to make do with Bing for iOS for now.)
First steps with Copilot for Android
You can download Copilot for Android for free from the Google Play Store and get started with it right out of the box: you don’t even need to sign in with a Microsoft account, although if you don’t, you’ll be limited to five requests per day, and you’ll have There won’t be access to some of the more advanced features (including AI image creation).
There are several options for interacting with the bot. You can click on one of the suggested prompts, enter a question or clue into the text field at the bottom of the screen, or press the microphone button (bottom right) and speak directly to the co-pilot (and receive verbal answers). in return). If you’re using the voice option, the microphone icon will change to a keyboard icon when you need to return to text prompts.
You’ll also see a camera icon at the bottom of the interface—tap it and you’ll be able to upload a photo from your phone (or take a new one) for Copilot’s analysis. For example, you can ask a question about what is in the picture, or create a new picture based on the one you provide.
There are no settings inside the app, but you can click on the three dots (top right) to start new themes and customize the chatbot’s “tones.” These tones allow you to choose a balance between creativity and accuracy, so make your choices accordingly based on whether you want the answers to be as creative as possible or as accurate as possible (and as always, don’t believe everything the AI tells you). ).
Text generation
One of the main ways to use Copilot, as with ChatGPT and Google Bard , is to generate text with it. If you want to get creative with Copilot, you can ask it to compose a poem on a topic of your choosing, and you can even specify the form, style, tone, and length of the poem if you want.
There are also more business uses for this technology: Copilot will write you an email to your boss, a presentation to a client, or a concept brief. One of the ways these generative AI bots can be useful is by explaining complex topics in simple terms. You can also ask additional questions if you need clarification or there is a specific point that you are not interested in. of course yes.
Copilot can also work with the text you paste into it: for example, you can ask for critical comments on your own text, or ask that a block of text be made more concise or more linguistically striking. Please note that there is also a copy icon at the end of each answer, so if you need to copy the text and paste it somewhere else, you can do so.
If you’re signed in with a valid Microsoft account, you’ll see a “Use GPT-4” toggle at the top of your chats. Turn this on to use the most advanced AI model available in the app: although the responses may be slightly slower, the results you get will usually be more natural and informative since they are trained on more data.
Search, images and more
Copilot goes far beyond text generation. You can, for example, ask it the same questions you would ask a search engine: ask for ideas for party games, a travel itinerary for a particular city, products it recommends, or advice on how to achieve a specific task. If Copilot searches for something online, you’ll see links to websites at the end of the response.
You can also try queries you can ask Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant , keeping in mind that inaccuracies may occur even if Copilot references the Internet. One of the real-world uses we’ve found for Copilot and other generative AI engines is to remember the word that’s on the tip of our tongue. If you describe a word you almost remember and insert it into a sentence, Copilot will usually get the one you want.
Image generation is also built into Copilot, so you can simply ask it to generate images of whatever you like from text prompts: cats on balloons, an alien cityscape, an exploding cup of coffee, or whatever else you need. The image creation capabilities are the same as we’ve already seen on Bing , and you’ll be given four options to choose from – tap any of them to see a larger preview.
Microsoft hasn’t released information about Copilot for Android yet, but from what we can see, you’re limited to 30 inputs per conversation if you log into the app. It’s possible that quotas will change over time as Microsoft manages demand for its powerful generative AI tools, which, at least for now, you can use for free.