- Copilot mode transforms the edge browser into a voice-controlled AI experience
- It can read across all open tabs to get more of the context of what you are doing
- Future features will let EDGE perform tasks such as booking of tickets
Microsoft has just gone all with AI in his edge browser and launches a new copilot mode. The new condition is an opt-in feature that completely changes the way you use the browser.
Now Edge isn’t just waiting for you to click something, it expects what you might like to do next, and you can ask copilot questions about the content you are currently seeing.
If this reminds you a little too much of Microsoft’s unhappy Klipy, the ‘helpful’ paper clip assistant who would try to find out what you did on the Office 97 and try to help you, don’t worry-copilot mode is much less invasive and can also easily turn off if you don’t like it.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that the new copilot mode is a natural development of the browser, and feels like exactly the right direction for Microsoft to be on the way, especially considering the positive reaction to other AI browsers, such as comet from confusion.
A stripped back look
The first thing you notice when you have turned on Copilot mode on is that you see a clean, streamlined side with a single input box in the middle. From here you can access chat, search and web browsing:
But you don’t even have to write anything to browse the internet with Copilot mode. One of the prominent features is that you can now talk to your browser using your voice, giving it commands which means you can browse the web faster and without having to enter at all.
You can do things like opening a YouTube video and saying something like “Go to the section where it shows you how to build a site,” and copilot will find the exact section of the video for you.
Or, if you watch a long video that has a recipe in there somewhere, you can ask Copilot to find the recipe and give it to you in text form:
When you see the new copilot mode in action, it looks very impressive because (in a feature that is coming soon), you will be able to instruct it to handle tasks for you, giving browser agentic properties.
So you can ask Edge to search for something, and even book activities and services using your voice, all in the browser.
The big new features of copilot at the edge are:
Multi-Tab context
Copilot can use AI to get the full context of what you are exploring online because it will have access to all your open tabs so it can find out what your priorities are and then act on them.
Actions
This is Microsoft’s name of the natural voice -navigation I mentioned earlier. You can talk to Copilot about what you are trying to do on a page so you can get it to compare prices or find special information on the site.
A ‘coming soon’ addition is that you will be able to get Copilot to search your story and credentials to make more advanced options such as reservation of reservations.
Dynamic window
Copilot does not get in the way because it appears in a dynamic panel that does not interfere with the web page you are watching. This way, your copilot interaction will also avoid being disturbed by pop-ups or advertising on the website.
Pick up where you slack
Another ‘Coming Soon’ feature is the possibility of copilot to continue with a topic you are investigating from the last time you used the browser. So if you were researching how to start a business, you can just pick up from where you left the last time.
Privacy and security
When a browser begins to exhibit agentic properties (the ability to perform tasks such as booking things for you), the question of security arises naturally. For this purpose, Microsoft promises to collect only data needed to improve your experience. Your data in copilot to edge is secure, secure and never shared without your permission.
How to get copilot mode in edge
Although not all the new features are available right now, you can still try copilot mode in your edge browser right now.
It will be available in the edge browser on both Windows and Mac. From today you can go to aka.ms/copilot-mode to sign up for Copilot mode. Once you’ve done that, you can switch copilot mode to or from directly in your settings.
