Microsoft Outlook is expanding its use of AI tools for corporate users, which means artificial intelligence may soon write more company emails.
The Microsoft 365 Copilot tool, dubbed “your everyday AI companion” by the company, assists users in crafting concise and error-free emails. It can also summarize lengthy email threads and provide quick reply suggestions.
Microsoft Outlook is Soon Introducing the Capability to Compose Emails on Your Behalf
Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription users will receive enhanced AI support from Microsoft Editor, an intelligent writing assistant. This update offers suggested edits for “clarity, conciseness, inclusive language, and more” to assist workers in producing more “polished and professional” emails, as mentioned in the company’s September blog post.
The company announced that the tool will become accessible to additional corporate clients from November 1. It has already undergone months of testing with customers like Visa, General Motors, KPMG, and Lumen Technologies.
In March, Microsoft revealed its intentions to introduce artificial intelligence to its widely recognized productivity tools such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. The goal is to revolutionize the way millions of people perform their daily tasks. The introduction of the AI-powered “copilot,” designed to assist in editing, summarizing, creating, and comparing documents, is based on the same technology that powers ChatGPT.
Microsoft 365 users will have the ability to summarize meetings, generate suggested follow-up action items, request the creation of a specific chart in Excel, and transform a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation within seconds, alongside writing emails.
Corporate customers will also have access to Microsoft 365 Chat, formerly known as Business Chat. It can scan the internet, employee emails, meetings, chats, and files, acting as a personalized secretary.
ChatGPT’s Viral Release Ignites AI Tool Development Race
The expansion will occur within a year of OpenAI’s public release of the viral AI chat tool ChatGPT. It amazed many users with its remarkable capacity to produce original essays, stories, and song lyrics in response to user requests. The initial surge of interest in the tool rekindled a competitive race among tech companies to create and incorporate similar AI tools into their products.
In the following months, numerous other companies have introduced features based on or akin to this technology. Microsoft’s competitor, Google, has, for instance, integrated AI into its productivity tools, such as Gmail, Sheets, and Docs.
