Microsoft Copilot – Great Tool, Shame About the Delivery

I’ve got nothing against Copilot.

It’s a clever little digital helper that can write emails, tidy up spreadsheets, summarise meetings, and probably do your tax return while you’re down at the pub. It’s the sort of thing we’ve all secretly wanted: an assistant that doesn’t complain about working late or “forget” to send the file. Lovely.

But here’s the problem. Microsoft hasn’t offered us Copilot. They’ve rammed it into our computers like a bad song on repeat. You wake up one morning, open Word to bash out a simple letter, and suddenly Copilot is hovering in the corner like an over-enthusiastic intern. “Would you like me to help with that?” No, I’d like you to go away while I type two paragraphs without interference, thank you very much.

It’s like being sold a car with “optional” heated seats, only to find they’ve welded the switch permanently to the dashboard, turned it on, and you can’t shut it off without voiding the warranty. Nice feature, but why does it have to be strapped to me at all times?

Now, don’t get me wrong – I’d love to give Copilot a proper go. I want to sit down, test it out, and see if it can actually improve my day or if it just generates the digital equivalent of a student essay written at 2am. But instead of giving me the chance to explore it on my own terms, Microsoft have gone for the “shock and awe” approach. Slam it into Office, Windows, Teams, Outlook – probably even Minesweeper by Christmas.

The result? It doesn’t feel like innovation. It feels like advertising. You’re not being invited to try a powerful tool; you’re being told you must. And nothing kills curiosity faster than being force-fed.

What Microsoft seem to forget is that technology is at its best when it feels like a discovery – when you find a new feature and think, ah, that’s useful. It’s why people loved the early iPhone. Hidden gems, clever touches, stuff that made you grin. With Copilot, it’s the opposite. You can’t stumble across it, because it’s already in your face before you’ve even logged in.

Imagine if you bought a new car where every time you opened the door, a salesman jumped out of the glovebox shouting about the new cupholder. You’d drive it off a cliff just to shut them up. That’s the Copilot experience right now.

So here’s my verdict: Copilot is not the villain. Just like ChatGPT – the concept is clever, the potential enormous. But Microsoft’s method of delivery is like being force-fed cold porridge while someone insists it’s the best breakfast you’ll ever have. Let us breathe. Let us explore. Stop shoving and start showing.

Because if they don’t, people won’t remember Copilot as the groundbreaking digital assistant it could be. They’ll remember it as that annoying thing that kept popping up when all you wanted to do was write a shopping list in Word.