Certain Windows 365 Copilot users now have access to new features in Excel that allow Microsoft's Copilot AI to generate formulas, but they need to be aware of how to use it. Microsoft has already warned users that AI is not always accurate.
The new “Copilot” function allows you to create an Excel formula by telling Copilot what you want to do and what cells you want to use. For example, you can enter “=copilot (“Summary this feedback”, a2:a20). The Microsoft example focuses on content classification, summary, and generation on the support page for the Copilot function.
However, Microsoft specifically warns you not to use it for “tasks that require precision or reproducibility,” such as numerical calculations. Microsoft also advises that this feature be used for “financial reporting, legal documents, or other high stakes scenarios,” so essentially most of the things people are superior to are
Like other generation AI tools, if you are using the Copilot function, you should be aware of the strange consequences of AI hallucinations and misconceptions of prompts.
Accuracy aside, privacy is also a clear concern here. “Data sent via the Copilot function will not be used to train or improve the AI model. The information entered will remain confidential and will only be used to generate the requested output,” Microsoft said in a blog post in the announcement.
As this is still a beta feature, Microsoft is still refined with the help of user feedback and is not widely available yet. It is now available to Microsoft 365 Copilot Beta Channel users. Functionality is somewhat limited even beyond accuracy concerns. Currently, the co-pilot function is at a maximum of 100 calls per 10 minutes or 300 calls per hour. You cannot access “live web data or internal business documents.”
