Microsoft Copilot hacks to create notes in a jiffy
What's the story
Microsoft Copilot is designed to provide concise notes and summaries on large documents. CNET recently put this in-browser component to the test to summarize a 294-slide presentation about Olive Garden. It was a topic that was described as being so tedious and uninteresting that it could potentially bore any rational person to the extreme. Interestingly, the AI tool generated results in a fraction of the time.
AI test
AI summarized Olive Garden's missteps
In 2014, Starboard Value, an activist hedge fund that invested in Darden Restaurants (the then-owner of Olive Garden and had just sold Red Lobster), created a comprehensive 294-slide presentation detailing the company's missteps. The presentation covered topics such as the sale of Red Lobster and its resulting shareholder dissatisfaction. A decade later, Copilot was used to sift through this document which arguably predicted Red Lobster's downfall.
Future applications
Potential beyond summarizing presentations
In less than a minute, Copilot produced succinct and accurate notes relevant to Red Lobster from the extensive presentation. The tool also extracted specific information like references to company executives, quotes from the CEO, and brief rundowns on board members. Its potential applications extend beyond presentations to lectures, court documents, and even hour-long Zoom meetings that could have been condensed into emails.
User guide
How to use Microsoft's Copilot: A step-by-step guide
To use Copilot for note-taking or summarizing, users have to first download and install the Microsoft Edge browser. After navigating to the desired webpage, users click on the Copilot icon in the upper-right-hand corner of the browser. They then type in the focus area for note creation, inside a blank text field at the bottom right-hand of the browser window, and wait for results.