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Key takeaways of zdnet
- Copilot can help you write emails, respond and submit a brief.
- I tried Copilot in the Classic Outlook, but could not keep it worth keeping it.
- You can disable Copilot in the classic outlook, but the process is kludgy.
I have gone to the fence as far as I am using generic AI. As a researcher, I rely on chat, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and other bots to help me check challenging questions and problems. But as a writer, I avoid using AI to generate any material that I should write myself. This includes not only articles and stories, but also emails and texts.
But AI rapidly infiltrates applications that I use every day, temptation always takes to take it for a spin. Here, however, I am especially speaking about Microsoft Outlook. I rely on the classic version of Outlook to send, obtain and manage my email.
I have a Microsoft 365 family membership, which serves words, Excel, PowerPoint, Onenote, Outlook, Access and Publisher. Of these, I use words, Excel and Outlook every day. Last year, Microsoft added its Copilot AI to most programs in suites, with an increase in price, of course. And now Copilot is available in the classic outlook, as well as the new Outlook app.
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After checking Copilot in all other programs in the suite, I eventually disabled AI completely, so it does not even appear. It was a matter of especially in the word, which otherwise shines a annoying message on each new document, inviting you to tell you what you want to write or draft with Copilot.
Every time I tried to start an email or respond to me with Copilot for Outlook, I decided to give me a shot. What happened here
When you start a new email, a notice in the body asks you to press Alt+I to draft with Copilot. Tiggering the key combination displays a sign in which you can describe the type of email you want to generate.
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To see how this happened, I wrote the following details: “Write a cover letter applying for a job as a freelance technology reporter. Mention my experience writing for ZDNET, Cnet, Techrepublic and PCMAG. Mention that I have written a column for Technet Magazine.” I clicked the generate button to tell Copilot to make a draft.
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To deal with the draft, I can quit it as it is, can abandon it, or reproduce it to try it again. More and more value, I can also accommodate the parameters to make it long, short, more direct, more formal, or more casual. I could also turn it into a poem (Hmm, a cover letter written as a poem). I tried to see each of these variations to see how they influenced the email.
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In all of them, casual one did the best work for this situation because it was friendly and more personal than other variations. But even this version will require an appropriate amount of editing to personalize the email and it sounds like a sound I will write something.
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The draft was helpful in the fact that it provided guidance to include some aspects of my background. But eventually it must have proved to be easy and more satisfactory to write the entire email from the gate-go.
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I also tested Copilot to see how it would respond to an email. Here, I opened an email from my inbox and clicked on the answer. Again, a notice asked me to suppress Alt+I. By doing this I was asked to describe the type of email. For this one, I responded to an email from the organizers of Hu Convention, a doctor in the UK. Here, I asked about the photo up policies.
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After describing what I wanted, I clicked on the generate. In response, the draft appeared. The same options were available when creating a new email – keep, leave, or generate. I can also request a specific amendment to make it long, short, more formal, more direct, more casual or poetic. Here, I chose the poetic version, so that it is suitable for sound, to make it a little bizarre and monotonous. In this case, the poem producing the copilot was clever and creative, so it fits into the mood.
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Next, I tried to summarize an email. For this, I opened an email from Microsoft with the latest features information for Windows internal formulas. After clicking on the summary button, Copilot generated and displayed the summary of email with the main details. I was then able to copy and rate it with a thumb or thumb.
Also: How to remove Copilot from your Microsoft 365 scheme – before you pay for it
Although the summary was useful, I found it very brief. I wanted some points to be carried forward. Very at least, I want to provide an option to the Microsoft to generate a long summary, which I expressed in my reason to give a thumb down.
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Although Copilot in Outlook may be of some value, I eventually did not find it worth at least for me. Every time I use Outlook, to avoid watching Copilot, I decided to neutralize AI. Well, it is easier than it is said. Other programs in Word, Excel and suits include the option to disable Copilot. But there is no such option in the Classic Outlook.
Instead, you have to disable it in one of other versions of the Outlook, such as the new Windows app, the web on the web, the outlook for iOS, the outlook for the iOS, the outlook for Android, or Outlook for Mac. Your change then sinks with a classic outlook. Yes, the process is kludgy, but notable.
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Here, I disable it through the new Outlook app for Windows as it was most accessible. To do this in Windows 10 or 11, go to the Start menu and click Outlook. In the new Outlook app, click on the Copilot button on the upper right and select the settings. On the settings window, close the switch for Copilot. If you have more than one email account that supports Copilot, click on the dropdown menu at the top, switch to each account, and close the switch. When done, click on Save.
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After disabled Copilot in any other outlook app, allow time for change. Open the classic outlook. The Copilot button should no longer be visible, while the draft with the Copilot option will not pop up a new email or north.
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