Month: August 2024

Here’s why Apple will become the world’s leading AI vendor

August 6, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

Apple is on the cusp of becoming the world’s leading ecosystem for personal productivity AI, with the software features introduced at WWDC soon to be accompanied by the world’s most computationally powerful (yet efficient) Macs, iPads, and iPhones.

This fully integrated, platform-wide approach spanning mobile, PC, and even cloud is not currently matched by anyone else in the business. That Apple’s platforms already have hundreds of millions of users means its AI offer should achieve market traction incredibly quickly, even as it works in partnership with AI firms to deliver the things its own intelligence doesn’t do.

Apple’s AI-augmented fab gadgets

Thanks to its powerful processor, the M4 iPad Pro has turned Apple’s tablet sales around, according to IDC. And while Apple’s fastest M4 processor has only been available in the iPad Pro, that still gives developers a perfectly viable machine on which to test software built to exploit Apple’s APIs for AI. No Macs run these chips, yet, but that’s about to change.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (who I imagine has bugging devices across Apple Park, judging from the frequency of his leaks) tells us Apple will put M4 Apple Silicon processors inside the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini this year — with the rest of its Macs set to gain these chips in 2025.

There is little doubt that the upgrade to an M4 Mac will be hugely tempting for those of us running M1 models.

When the going gets tough, Apple goes pro

Given the steady improvements in computational power and battery life in each iteration of Apple’s chips, the upgrade may be as significant as the original transition from Intel to Apple Silicon was. This also means the world’s most personal and private AI will run natively on the world’s fastest low-energy computers.

That’s by design, of course, and was more or less hinted at by Apple CEO Tim Cook who said recently, “We will continue to make significant investments in this technology and dedicate ourselves to the innovation that will unlock its full potential.”

Gurman’s news follows hotly on speculation Apple will actually introduce Apple Intelligence features a little later than had originally been expected. Again, that makes plenty of sense if the intention is to introduce Apple Intelligence alongside a host of new — and powerful — devices capable of running it.

Reading between the lines, the significance is that by the end of 2024, Apple will offer a full-fledged AI-augmented ecosystem in every plausible productivity category: smartphone, computer, and tablet. Some elements of Apple Intelligence will eventually make it to other devices as well.

When Black Friday comes around again, Apple will be offering a range of devices that also have the best user satisfaction rankings in the industry.

If there’s a one more component to this, it has to be that Apple’s unique approach to privacy means that when it comes to AI, it is already forging a path toward the on-device, edge-based, cloud secure tools enterprise users need.

And it’s doing so at precisely the same time as the recent Crowdstrike disaster showed the inherent weakness of the dominant PC platform. For Apple, the Mac, and the company’s other products, the only way is up.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Here’s why Apple will become the world’s leading AI vendor

August 6, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

Apple’s AI-augmented fab gadgets

There is little doubt that the upgrade to an M4 Mac will be hugely tempting for those of us running M1 models.

When the going gets tough, Apple goes pro

When Black Friday comes around again, Apple will be offering a range of devices that also have the best user satisfaction rankings in the industry.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Zoom Docs brings AI document creation to Workplace

August 6, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

Zoom has added a document creation tool that uses generative AI (genAI) to help create and manage information related to meetings.

First announced last year, Zoom Docs is now generally available within Workplace, Zoom’s an all-in-one collaboration app, the company said in a blog post Monday.

Docs is pitched as a word processor that can be used create and share information related to meetings, though it supports different content types, such as wikis, whiteboards, and project tracking tables.

Docs can be pulled up and edited directly from within a Zoom video meeting, with real-time co-editing for up to 100 colleagues; it also includes collaboration features such as @mentions and comments within documents.

A key part of Zoom Docs is the integration with Zoom’s AI Companion. The genAI assistant can be used to create text from scratch, such as drafting an agenda prior to a meeting.

After a video meeting has taken place, the AI Companion can then turn the conversation transcript into a summary document for sharing and editing with coworkers. Available templates allow documents to be crafted in a certain format, such as a basic summary of key points and next steps, or a “brainstorm” document that highlights ideas proposed during the meeting.

Zoom

As with other AI assistants, Zoom’s AI Companion can also be used to revise and enhance text; check for grammatical and spelling errors; or change tone and style.

Zoom Docs is available at no extra cost to paid Zoom Workplace customers. Those on the free version can create up to 10 shared documents and unlimited personal documents, but won’t have access to Zoom’s AI Companion.

Google’s search monopoly verdict likely to strengthen competition and regulatory efforts

August 6, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

In a major setback for Google, a US District Court has declared the search engine giant a monopoly, asserting it used its dominance in the online search market to stifle competition.

This ruling is likely to increase regulatory scrutiny and changes in Google’s business practices, potentially allowing more room for competitors to gain market share.

Google has said it will appeal the ruling, which adds to its other legal challenges.

A separate trial focusing on Google’s advertising practices is scheduled for later in 2024.

The ruling is also likely to bolster antitrust enforcers targeting other major tech firms, like Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI. In recent years, regulators have also acted against Meta, Amazon, and Apple.

Impact on Google’s business

While the latest ruling marks a significant legal victory for antitrust regulators, it is only the first step in what could be a prolonged legal battle, as Google plans to appeal.

Consequently, there may not be any immediate impact on partners, advertisers, or consumers.

However, analysts speculate on the potential next steps, noting that the court found Google has spent tens of billions of dollars on exclusive contracts to maintain its dominant position.

“The court’s decision opens the door for a range of potential remedies, including forced divestitures, breaking up Google’s search and advertising operations, or prohibiting exclusive search engine deals,” said Prabhu Ram, VP of the industry research group at Cybermedia Research. “The ultimate outcome of this case will determine the shape of the search market for years to come.”

Advantages to competition

A notable impact of the ruling could be the encouragement of market competition.

In his 277-page opinion, Judge Amit Mehta noted that Google commands nearly 90% of the search market and almost 95% on mobile devices. In contrast, Microsoft’s Bing holds about 6% of all search queries, significantly lower than Google’s share by 84%.

“Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share and make them whole for any revenue shortfalls resulting from the change,” Mehta wrote.

Hyoun Park, CEO and chief analyst at Amalgam Insights pointed out that Google’s competitors in search, most notably Microsoft Bing, definitely will try to use this antitrust ruling to open up exclusive contracts that Google has with Apple and other large companies.

“The multi-billion-dollar contracts that exist here to allow Google to be an exclusive search provider have long been a target for every other search company,” Park said. “Google’s competitors would like a situation where the search is treated more as a utility that can be chosen by the user in all of the areas that are currently exclusive to Google search.”

Potential to transform web search

Significantly, the ruling comes just weeks after OpenAI announced the launch of SearchGPT, a potential rival to Google. Ram said that while Google has long been the dominant search engine, this ruling could transform the search landscape.

“With the rise of AI, the paradigm is shifting from traditional search to a more dynamic ‘seek’ approach, where users can ask AI for answers,” Ram pointed out. “The antitrust ruling potentially opens the door for alternatives, including AI-powered search. For new market entrants, such as SearchGPT, this ruling is a boon.”

Park added that it would be interesting to see if other smaller providers, such as DuckDuckGo or Perplexity, will also get a fair shot at these competitive search contracts or whether they are simply handed to Microsoft.

“That market opportunity will largely determine whether this decision actually breaks up a monopoly or simply redistributes billions of dollars from one large tech company to another to create a mostly uncompetitive duopoly,” Park said.

Response from other regulators

The latest ruling may also prompt regulators to scrutinize Google more closely. The company has already been fined €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) by the European Union for violating antitrust rules, a penalty Google sought to appeal last year.

“The current American Federal Trade Commission led by Lina Khan is very aggressive in enforcing antitrust law and trying to break up monopolies,” Park said. “Now that there is also a judge who has shown a willingness to make rulings on antitrust, this strengthens the current US government stance on trying to break up or modify monopoly services.”

However, despite more scrutiny, customers are still likely to choose Google for search, according to Faisal Kawoosa, chief analyst at Techarc.

“I believe other regulators will examine this issue, but it’s unlikely to lead to significant changes,” Kawoosa added. “For example, in India, the competition regulator has already mandated that Android smartphones unbundle search engines, allowing customers to choose their preferred option. However, many still select Google, making it a customer-driven choice rather than one limited by OEMs.”

Google is a ‘monopolist’ that violated antitrust laws, court finds

August 5, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

In a landmark decision, a US District Court on Monday ruled that Google is a monopoly that used its dominance in the online search market to suppress other search engines and keep them from gaining market share.

The decision by the US District Court for the District of Columbia said Google’s dominance has gone unchallenged for well over a decade — allowing it to grow even stronger at the expense of its competitors.

“By 2020, it was nearly 90% [of the search market], and even higher on mobile devices at almost 95%” US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his 277-page opinion. “The second-place search engine, Microsoft’s Bing, sees roughly 6% of all search queries — 84% fewer than Google. Google has not achieved market dominance by happenstance.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta added.

Google Search is parent-company Alphabet’s oldest and most profitable business.

After a lengthy trial last fall, the court found Google has spent tens of billions of dollars on exclusive contracts to secure a dominant role as the default search engine for web browsers and mobile devices. The court even used a competitive analysis performed by Google itself in 2020 to illustrate the point; that study estimated it would cost Google competitor Apple $20 billion to create a similar product that could compete with Google search.

Other rivals, such as Microsoft Bing and Duckduckgo.com, suffer the same inability to compete — and as Google’s revenue has grown, so has its ability to continue locking its competition out.

“In 2014, Google booked nearly $47 billion in advertising revenue. By 2021, that number had increased more than three-fold to over $146 billion. Bing, by comparison, generated only a fraction of that amount — less than $12 billion in 2022,” Mehta wrote.

While Mehta didn’t offer a solution to the monopoly Google has built, the court’s decision will likely affect other lawsuits against the company and change the way its search engine works in the future. If it prevails through the appeals process, the ruling is also likely open the door to Google’s competition to grow their own business and search engine market base.

Google’s court woes are far from over with the Monday ruling. A second lawsuit by the Department of Justice brought by the Biden administration will challenge the company’s advertising technology business.

The DOJ complaint has alleged that Google monopolizes advertising and uses technologies to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its advertising dominance. That case is expected to head to trial in early September.

After the ruling was made public, Attorney General Merrick Garland weighed in with a statement: “This victory against Google is an historic win for the American people,” said Garland. “No company — no matter how large or influential — is above the law. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.”

“This landmark decision holds Google accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter. “It paves the path for innovation for generations to come and protects access to information for all Americans.”

Google did not immediately have comment on the landmark ruling.

Apple’s Safari kills annoying content overlays with ‘Distraction Control’

August 5, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

Apple has introduced what might seem a controversial new Safari feature to make surfing the web a lot less annoying, as it removes those overlays that sometimes gets in the way of the experience. The new feature is called Distraction Control.

What is Distraction Control in Safari?

Coming this fall to Safari, Distraction Control lets users hide distracting items such as sign-in banners, newsletter subscription sign-ups, pestering subscription requests, or content overlays users see while browsing the web.

These kinds of elements are not removed by most ads blockers; now, Safari will do it for you. It lets you choose which overlays to remove, after which you won’t be exposed to them next time you visit the site. In the context of user need, that’s great, but as a unique feature it gives Apple’s browser an additional USP as it is forced to open its platforms up. (If you’re using latest iOS and macOS betas you can now work with Distraction Control, which is scheduled to ship with macOS Sequoia, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.)

How does Distraction Control work?

The tool is only automatic to an extent. That means the first time you visit a site that carries these kinds of overlays, Safari will render them precisely as the website wants. But this is where Safari gives you a choice: just tap in the Smart Search field to surface the Page Menu, where you will find the Distraction Control tool (Hide Distracting Items). Tap this and you will be able to select the distracting site element(s) you want removed from view. Safari will then automatically remove that element and won’t show it again until the content is changed — it’s not a 100% removal solution.

To unhide these items, click the Hide icon in the search field and then tap Show Hidden Items.

**What doesn’t Distraction Control do?**

Distraction Control is not an ad blocker — you’ll need other tools for that. What it does is identify these items to provide you with the option of removing them. Safari is not generating content it thinks sits behind these on-page items, either. It just shows the content itself. The feature is not designed and cannot be used to evade paywalls.

Why might it be controversial?

The new feature adds to Apple’s privacy-first browser, which is festooned with protective features such as Intelligent Tracking Prevention and private browsing that is actually private. Over time, however, many of the privacy-protecting tools Apple has put inside Safari have raised resistance, usually from across the less salubrious parts of the surveillance-based advertising industry. Because this new tool might reduce the effectiveness of some of the most annoying on-page elements out there, it seems inevitable Apple will face resistance once again.

Perhaps the most controversial part of this involves the economics of running websites. Many site publishers have seen income yields fall dramatically since tougher GDPR rules came into effect. The impact of these has been particularly tough on small web publishers who, in some cases, have seen incomes collapse.

Many of these had turned to subscriptions and mailing lists in an attempt to claw back some of this income, and Apple’s new feature could make the task of attracting those signups more difficult — even as AI developers continue to grab content from those same sites to make their technologies seem more genuine.

What privacy features does Safari provide?

As noted, Safari already offers a host of privacy protecting features, including:

Intelligent Tracking Prevention to prevent cross-site tracking.
Private Browsing.
Passkeys: Better than passwords.
Password monitoring: Built in protection against compromised passwords.
Privacy Report — what trackers are tracking you and who is being blocked.
Social widget tracking prevention.
Fingerprinting defense: Prevents advertisers and websites tracking you using the unique features of your device.

You can also read an extensive whitepaper detailing Safari’s privacy protecting technologies; it’s available here.

What else is coming to Safari this fall?

Apple has already revealed several additional features for its Safari browser.

First, it tweaked how Safari tools are accessed by making these available via the URL bar; in keeping with the rest of the UI, this also gives the company a little more space within which to offer additional tools in the future.

New tools also include Highlights, which automatically detects relevant information on a page and highlights this as you browse and a much improved Reader tool that adds a summary and table of contents when you look at web content.

The company has also spun out Safari’s built in Keychain-based password manager as a standalone app. These new features will appear when the operating systems ship in fall.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Nvidia delays the start of sales of new AI chips

August 5, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

Nvidia has notified customers that its new AI chips in the Blackwell series will be at least three months late, according to The Information.

The B200 chip was shown off in March, but a serious design flaw found recently needs to be fixed before they are rolled out widely, according to the site’s sources.

According to The Verge, it will be difficult for Nvidia and its partner TSMC to deliver any larger quantities of the chip before the end of the year, as they need to do extensive testing first. The delay is a major setback for Nvidia, but also for Microsoft, Google and Meta, which ordered tens of billions of dollars worth of chips.

Nvidia’s work on AI chips has sparked something of a chips war with rivals Intel and AMD.

OpenAI has tools to watermark ChatGPT text, but doesn’t use them

August 5, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

OpenAI has for more than a year had a tool to watermark text generated by the company’s AI assistant ChatGPT, according to information provided to The Wall Street Journal via The Verge. (OpenAI itself has confirmed that it’s been working on such a tool in a blog post.)

According to Journal, the watermarking should not affect the quality of the content ChatGPT creates — but OpenAI has chosen not to start using the tool because internally there are divided opinions about it.

The generative AI (genAI) company reportedly commissioned a survey that showed four times as many people are disposed to using tools that can identify AI content as opposed to them. At the same time, another survey found that 30% of ChatGPT users would use the service less if it contained watermarked content.

Microsoft Copilot can boost your writing in Word, Outlook, and OneNote — here’s how

August 5, 2024 / Security – Computerworld

One of the most enticing uses for generative AI is to help you write. Anyone can get writing help from Microsoft’s Copilot genAI tool via the free Copilot web or mobile app. But Copilot becomes especially useful when it’s integrated with various Microsoft 365 apps.

As you compose, edit, or view a document in Word, for example, you can summon Copilot to assist you in several ways: It can generate rough drafts, polish or change the tone of your writing, and summarize long passages of text. Copilot can also help you compose or summarize emails in Outlook and help you rewrite or summarize notes in OneNote.

This guide will get you started on the basics of using Copilot for your writing in Microsoft 365 apps. But you’ll have to pay for a Copilot subscription in addition to your current Microsoft 365 plan.

How to use Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps

Individuals with a free Microsoft account or a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription can purchase a Copilot Pro subscription for $20 per month. (A one-month free trial is available.) Each person who wants to use Copilot Pro must have their own subscription.

If you have a free Microsoft account, the Copilot Pro subscription lets you use Copilot in certain Microsoft 365 apps on the web only. If you have a paid Microsoft 365 plan, you’ll be able to use Copilot in the desktop and mobile versions of those M365 apps as well. Once you’ve signed up, you may need to refresh your Microsoft 365 license before Copilot becomes available in the apps.

If you’re on a Microsoft 365 business plan (such as through a company you work for), a Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription costs $30 per user per month. This must be paid annually at $360 up front, and there’s no trial period. (Apparently, Microsoft presumes that your company will foot this hefty tab.) A Copilot Pro subscription cannot be used with a Microsoft 365 business account.

This guide goes over how to use Copilot in Word, Outlook, and OneNote to help you compose and revise text. I’ll demonstrate using Copilot Pro with an individual Microsoft 365 account, but the descriptions also apply to Copilot for Microsoft 365 used with a Microsoft 365 business plan. Most of the steps and user interfaces are alike. I’ll also note additional features that are available under the business versions of Copilot and Microsoft 365.

Note: Microsoft 365 apps aren’t completely consistent on different platforms — for instance, a menu choice in Word for Windows might be named differently from the same option in the web version of Word. In these cases, I’ve tried to include both names. You may still find instances where a button or menu item doesn’t match, but it’s generally obvious what to do.

Generate a rough draft in Word or Outlook

Copilot can help you compose text drafts in Word and Outlook. In Outlook, you use Copilot through a panel that appears over the main area of the app. In Word, you can use Copilot from a similar panel that overlays the document, or from a sidebar that opens along the right of the page.

Using the “Draft with Copilot” panel in Word and Outlook

Word: Start with a new, blank document or open an existing document that you’d like to add more writing to. (Set the cursor where you want the generated text to be inserted.) Click the Copilot icon that appears in the left margin.

Howard Wen / IDG

The “Draft with Copilot” panel appears over the document. In the text entry box, you’ll type in a prompt that describes the text you want Copilot to write. (More on that in a moment.)

Howard Wen / IDG

In the desktop version of Word for Windows, there’s a Reference a file button at the bottom of the Draft with Copilot panel. Clicking this may let you select a document in your OneDrive or SharePoint for Copilot to base its generated text on, including content, writing style, and formatting. (Business users can select up to three files for Copilot to reference.) You can also type your prompt followed by a / (forward slash) and a document’s file name to trigger Copilot to reference it.

But know that this function may not work for you – it apparently depends on whether Copilot itself thinks you have documents that it can reference for you.

Outlook: With the cursor in the message body of a new email, click the Copilot button on the Home tab of the ribbon toolbar. On the drop-down menu that opens, click Draft with Copilot.

outlook ribbon toolbar copilot menu — To get started with Copilot in Outlook, click the Copilot button in the ribbon toolbar.

Howard Wen / IDG

On the “Draft with Copilot” panel that opens, type your prompt inside the text entry box. The panel is similar to what you see in Word, but with an additional option: a button with two sliders on it that may say Adjust or Generate options, depending on your version of Outlook. When you click it, a drop-down menu opens that lists options for tone of voice and word length for the generated email draft.

outlook draft with copilot panel options — In Outlook, you can designate tone of voice and general length for Copilot’s output.

Howard Wen / IDG

Crafting your prompts

Prompts are sentences that you enter to instruct Copilot (or other AI assistants) how to compose the text you want created. Your prompt should minimally include the subject and a few specifics about the writing you want it to generate.

To get started, describe the kind of text you want Copilot to generate and add a detail or two about it. These prompts can be simple or a little more complex. For example:

“Create a brief business pitch for a new vegan restaurant that will be located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.”
“Write an opening paragraph describing my interest in a technical support job opening at Microsoft.”
“Write a few sentences that inquire if there are any job openings in technical support at Microsoft.”
“Compose a polite follow-up with the recipient about a video call we had last week.”

The more specifics you include in your prompt, the more likely you are to get good results. For instance, if you have notes that contain specific data points that you want to include in the generated text, copy and paste those notes into your prompt. If you have an outline for the topics you want to cover in the draft, paste that in as well.

But frankly, there are no hard rules about writing prompts — just use your imagination and see how Copilot responds. Expect that the AI may not generate results that you like (if it generates any at all). Keep experimenting with the descriptions in your prompts until you coax Copilot to produce a useful response.

Once you’ve entered your prompt (and optionally selected a tone and length in Outlook), click the Generate button or press Enter on your keyboard and wait for Copilot to work its AI magic.

The results are in – actions you can take

When Copilot has generated a draft, it appears in the document or email with a toolbar below it.

word copilot generated text with toolbar — In Word, use the toolbar below the generated draft to keep, retry, discard, or refine the text.

Howard Wen / IDG

You can use the toolbar to perform the following functions:

Click the Keep it button to keep the newly minted words in your document or email. You can then edit the generated text in the doc or email as you see fit.
Click the Regenerate button (two circular arrows) if you’re not satisfied with the result and want Copilot to generate a whole new one.
Click the Discard button (a trashcan) to discard the result.
Refine the result by typing more prompts in the text entry box (e.g., “add more details,” “make this sound more professional,” or “make it shorter”) and clicking the arrow. Copilot will generate an updated writing result using your additional commands and descriptions.
Optionally click the thumbs up or down icon in the upper-right corner of the toolbar to rate the quality of the result that Copilot generated. Presumably, this helps train the Copilot to produce better results in the future.

In Outlook, the buttons and text entry box are arranged differently in the toolbar, but they perform the same actions on an email draft that Copilot generates for you. You can also use the Adjust or Generate options button to change the tone or length.

Howard Wen / IDG

Important: All AI-generated content can contain errors or outright fabrications, known as hallucinations. When you insert text that Copilot has generated into a document or email, be sure to fact-check it carefully.

AI-generated content also tends to be generic and a bit boring, so you’ll likely want to edit it to inject your own personality or writing style.

Using the Copilot sidebar in Word

On the Home tab in Word’s ribbon toolbar, click the Copilot button. This will open the Copilot sidebar to the right. At the bottom of the sidebar, type your prompt inside the text entry box and click the arrow button (or press Enter). Copilot will generate text and display it inside the sidebar.

Howard Wen / IDG

Click the Copy button to copy the writing to your PC clipboard. You can then paste it into a document, note, email, or elsewhere.

Unlike the Draft with Copilot panel, the Copilot sidebar doesn’t include tools for refining text it generates from scratch. What’s more, Copilot’s behavior in the sidebar feels a little unreliable, producing inconsistent results. The sidebar seems better used for summarizing your document or asking the AI questions about it than for generating text.

Get coaching on an email draft in Outlook

If you’d rather compose emails yourself but would like some suggestions for improvement, there’s a nifty Copilot feature in Outlook called email coaching. After you’ve written your email draft, click the Copilot button on the Home tab in the ribbon toolbar. On the menu that appears, choose Coaching by Copilot.

Copilot will review your draft and offer specific suggestions for improving it in terms of tone, reader engagement, and clarity.

Howard Wen / IDG

Rewrite text in Word or OneNote

You can rewrite passages of text in a Word document or a OneNote page. This can be useful if you feel that your writing could use a little more detail, or if a paragraph sounds too wordy.

In Word, you can use either the Copilot panel or sidebar (as described earlier in this guide) to command Copilot to rewrite. In OneNote, you can use the sidebar or a right-click menu option.

Note: As of this writing, Copilot is available for OneNote only in the Windows desktop app.

Using the “Rewrite with Copilot” panel in Word

Highlight the passage of text that you want Copilot to rewrite. The Copilot button will appear in the margin to the left of the text that you highlighted. Click it, and on the menu that opens, select Auto rewrite or Rewrite with Copilot. Alternatively, you can right-click on your highlighted text, and on the menu that opens, select Copilot > Rewrite with Copilot.

word selecting auto rewrite option — In Word, select the text you want to rewrite, click the *Copilot* icon in the left margin, and select *Auto rewrite*.

Howard Wen / IDG

Either way, the “Rewrite with Copilot” panel appears below your highlighted text. Copilot will generate and present up to three rewritten versions in the panel. Click the arrows at the top of the panel to cycle through the rewrites.

rewritten text in rewrite with copilot pane in word — Reviewing and refining Copilot’s suggested rewrite for the highlighted text.

Howard Wen / IDG

Below the rewritten text, you can click the following buttons:

Replace will replace the original text that you highlighted with the currently visible rewritten version.
Insert below will insert the rewritten version below the original text you highlighted (so that you can decide later if you want to keep it).
The Regenerate button (two circular arrows) will generate another result.
In the Word desktop app for Windows, there’s an Adjust tone button (an icon with two sliders); it opens a menu that lets you select another writing style. Copilot will then adjust its result with the style you select.
In the Word web app, there’s a text entry box where you can refine the result by typing more prompts.

Note: Users with Copilot and M365 business subscriptions can also have Copilot rewrite messages in Teams. This feature works similarly to the Rewrite with Copilot panel in Word.

Using the Copilot sidebar in Word or OneNote

On the Home tab in the ribbon toolbar, click the Copilot button to open the Copilot sidebar to the right. To have Copilot rewrite the whole document or note, type rewrite inside the sidebar’s text entry box. To have it rewrite a specific paragraph, supply the paragraph number. You can also describe how you want the text to be rewritten, such as rewrite first paragraph to be shorter or rewrite paragraph 3 to sound more professional.

Copilot’s rewritten text appears in the sidebar. Below this result you’ll see the Copy button to copy the rewritten text to your clipboard.

Howard Wen / IDG

If you want to adjust Copilot’s rewriting result, you can click one of the suggested prompts that appear in the sidebar below the generated text and above the text entry box. To see different prompt suggestions, click the circular arrow icon.

In the text entry box, you can refine the result by typing more prompts.

Although the Copilot sidebar offers more options for refining its rewritten text than it does for text it generates from scratch, it’s still underpowered compared to the Rewrite with Copilot panel. The best way to rewrite text with Copilot in Word is to use the Rewrite with Copilot panel.

Using the right-click menu in OneNote

Alternatively, in OneNote, you can right-click the top bar of a text field on a page. On the menu that opens, select Copilot and on the next menu, Rewrite.