{"id":712,"date":"2024-05-21T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isog.xyz\/?p=712"},"modified":"2024-05-21T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T15:30:00","slug":"microsoft-copilot-ai-automation-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isog.xyz\/?p=712","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft’s new Copilot AI agents act as virtual workers to automate tasks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Microsoft will soon allow companies and developers to build AI-powered copilots that can work as virtual workers and perform tasks automatically. Instead of Copilot sitting idly by waiting for queries, it will be able to do things like monitor email inboxes and automate a series of tasks or data entry that employees would normally have to do manually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It’s a major change in Copilot’s behavior in what the industry commonly calls AI agents, or the ability of chatbots to intelligently perform complex tasks autonomously. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe quickly realized that limiting Copilot to just conversation was extremely limiting in what Copilot can do today,\u201d explained Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president of business apps and platforms at Microsoft, in an interview with The edge<\/em>. \u201cRather than having a Copilot sitting there waiting for someone to chat with it, why not make your Copilot more proactive and work in the background on automated tasks?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Microsoft’s new Copilot Studio homepage.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: Microsoft<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Microsoft is previewing this new capability today to a very small group of early access testers, ahead of a public preview in Copilot Studio later this year. Businesses can create a Copilot agent that can handle IT helpdesk service tasks, employee onboarding, and more. \u201cCopilots are evolving from copilots who work with you to copilots who work for you,\u201d Microsoft said in a blog post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These Copilot agents are triggered by certain events and work with a company’s own data. Here’s how Microsoft describes a potential Copilot for employee onboarding:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Imagine you are a new employee. A proactive co-pilot greets you, analyzes HR data and answers your questions, introduces you to your buddy, gives you the training and deadlines, helps you with the forms and sets up your first week of meetings. Now HR and employees can work on their regular tasks, without the hassle of administration.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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This kind of automation will obviously lead to questions about job losses and fears about where AI is going. Lamanna states that Copilot agents can remove the repetitive and mundane tasks of jobs, such as data entry, rather than replacing jobs entirely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat makes a job, what makes a role? It’s a lot of different tasks and overall it’s a very large number of very diverse and heterogeneous tasks. If someone were to do one thing over and over again, it would probably already be automated by today’s technology,\u201d says Lamanna. \u201cWe think that with Copilot and Copilot Studio, some tasks will be completely automated\u2026 but the good news is that most of the things that are being automated are things that no one really wants to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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