Meet the new Clippy, Microsoft just released Copilot's "Mico" avatar

marketing14560
Oct 24
2 min read

Happy Friday

Yesterday Microsoft released Mico, a new avatar for the AI-powered Copilot digital assistant. Microsoft describes it as being "human-centered" by listening, learning and "earning your trust." (* shiver *)

Perhaps they learned their lesson from the heavily criticized Clippy, the default Microsoft Office assistant for 4 years, or from the Cortana Windows digital assistant, which Copilot replaced in September of 2023.

Mico will likely help Copilot provide timely insights and suggest next-steps based on your recent activities, helping you save time and be more productive.

The Takeaway

According to Forbes, the #1 skill that employers are looking for in candidates is AI literacy. If Mico can help those falling behind in their AI skills by having a more user friendly interface, I think that it's a great idea.

But, let's talk about the elephant in the room: what private, company information is being accidentally leaked by employees? You want everyone in the organization using AI to be more productive and do higher quality work, but what's the safest way to use it?

Here are the top 5 rules every company should follow when using AI:

Don't share anything private. Never put customer details, prices, contracts, or passwords into an AI tool. If you wouldn't email it to a stranger, don't give it to AI.
Use AI for drafts, not decisions. Let AI help you brainstorm or write, but a person must review before anything goes to a customer, gets posted or gets bought.
Double-check your facts. AI says wrong things, A LOT. Verify names, numbers, and claims before making them your own.
Be up front. If AI helped create something important, say so. It can help you maintain consistency between the way you write and how you talk in person. I've seen this first hand - polished, perfectly worded emails from some not-so-eloquent individuals. Embarrassing.
Ask before trying new AI tools. If you want to test something new, check with your manager to make sure it's safe to use in the workplace.