Explaining Copilot+ Is Going To Be A Nightmare

The future of Windows is here, and it’s going to be really hard to explain to my mother what it all means.

Key Takeaways

Copilot+ entails more than just Copilot – Recall, automatic captions, and Cocreator are included features.
Competing AI services have distinct suffixes, creating mental separation for consumers to avoid confusion.
Confusion may arise due to the unclear differences between Copilot, Copilot Pro, and Copilot+ for non-tech-savvy individuals.

Sometimes it feels like the tech world is trying its best to confuse those out of the loop. When Copilot+ was announced, my first reaction was “Oh no, I’m going to accidentally call the AI PCs ‘Copilot Pro’ and vice versa.” My second was “Oh no, I’m going to have to teach my parents that the AI PCs aren’t called ‘Copilot Pro’ and vice versa.” Because my parents helped me as a kid by answering all the questions I had about life, I must return the favor by explaining to them what the new doohickey that just appeared on their computer does.

I get that Microsoft wants an official name for its AI PCs, but “Copilot+” is absolutely not it. As such, here’s why I feel explaining what Copilot+ is will be a nightmare for future me.

Copilot+ features so much more than just Copilot

While Microsoft’s assistant plays a big role, it’s not the only new feature

I get it; the idea behind Copilot+ is that it’s advertising the ability to run Copilot locally. Moving Copilot from the cloud to your computer’s hardware helps with privacy and prevents you from being locked out of your assistant if the network goes down. Plus, if done right, you may even get responses from the assistant faster from your local hardware. The thing is, Copilot is not the only thing that’s coming with Copilot+ PCs, and I feel it’d be easy to assume that all a Copilot+ PC does is have an enhanced assistant on it.

So, what else does Copilot+ come with? I would launch into the list myself, but our lucky Editor-in-Chief Rich Woods managed to get a hands-on with Copilot+ at the Microsoft 2024 event. There’s a lot to see, such as Recall, automatic captions, and Cocreator, all running off of local hardware. As such, it’s a lot more than just Copilot.

Competing AI services have had unique suffixes for a while now

Microsoft is breaking an unspoken code of honor

One thing I appreciate about the different AI subscription plans is that everyone gave their plans a different suffix. OpenAI has ChatGPT+, Microsoft has Copilot Pro, and Google has Gemini Advanced. It’s a nice way to mentally separate each service from one another so you don’t get confused over who owns what. And while there was no law or rule against naming a service similarly to a competitor’s, it was good that each company upheld an unspoken respect for one another. And then came Copilot+.

For people who aren’t so tech-savvy, learning the difference between ChatGPT+ and Copilot+ may be difficult. Perhaps if both of them were paid plans that people can subscribe to, it would be easier to explain what they do. But with one of them being a paid monthly service and the other being an AI PC specification, it’s going to get tricky to teach those out of the loop what the differences are without some minor confusion along the way.

ChatGPT vs Microsoft Copilot vs Google Gemini: What are the differences?

If you’ve been trying to figure out which generative AI tool is better, you’ve come to the right place

Copilot+ isn’t the same as Copilot Pro, and vice versa

We’re going to be accidentally mixing up the two for weeks

Even if you exclude other AI plans from the picture, the naming scheme is still confusing – so much so that we published an article explaining the differences between Copilot, Copilot Pro, and Copilot+. And when customers get their wires crossed over which service does what, I can imagine it can cause frustration when people don’t get what they want.

For instance, if someone who wasn’t following Microsoft’s AI developments bought a Copilot+ PC, would they think that it would also come with the services that Copilot Pro offers? As such, what are they going to feel when they learn they’re on the hook for another $20 a month if they want to unlock every feature? Similarly, what if someone mistakenly believes that subscribing to Copilot Pro will unlock Recall, automatic captions, and other Copilot+ features, despite not having the hardware to run them?

I feel that the naming convention is going to make it even harder for people who aren’t tech-savvy to break into AI. All it would take is one realization that they have to pay more than they first assumed they’d have to, and people are bound to get fed up with AI and want nothing more with it.

Microsoft Copilot Pro: What it is, how to use it, should you get it

If you’re looking to purchase Copilot Pro but aren’t sure how to use it, we’ve got all of the details that you need to know!

I’m all for AI PCs – just give them a better name

I understand that Microsoft wants to bring all of its AI solutions under one banner, but I don’t think “Copilot+” was the best name for its PCs. Even something simple like a little sticker that said “Windows AI compatible” would have done the job, much like how PC sellers would mention operating system compatibility every time a new version of Windows. But what’s done is done, and now I’m going to finish the PowerPoint presentation I’ll give my parents so they aren’t left out.