It doesn’t seem like Copilotthe intelligent assistant that Microsoft is introducing in practically all of its products, is to everyone’s taste. Not certainly, if we pay attention to the words of Marc Benioffco-founder and CEO of Salesforce, who this weekend used his personal account on X, to criticize the most ambitious development of Redmond in recent decades.
In this sense, Benioff has described Microsoft’s assistant as “disappointing”, adding that “it simply does not work and does not offer any degree of accuracy”, finally concluding that “Copilot is more like a Clippy 2.0”.
“Clippy” is the nickname given to Microsoft’s on-screen virtual assistant for Word and Office, Clippit, which debuted in 1996. Although it is now viewed with a certain nostalgic affection, in the mid-90s, when it was released, the vast majority of users considered it more annoying than useful, since it appeared in an unexpected (and somewhat random) way while they were using the different products that were part of the Office suite, to offer suggestions that were almost never useful.
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When you look at how Copilot has been delivered to customers, it’s disappointing. It just doesn’t work, and it doesn’t deliver any level of accuracy. Major analyst firms say it’s spilling data everywhere, and customers are left cleaning up the mess. To add insult to injury,…
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) October 18, 2024
Benioff’s criticism must of course be taken with a grain of salt, since it comes from a rival software company, with developments that compete directly against Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams (Slack). But it is curious to note how despite the fact that Salesforce is also one of the companies that has made the most progress in the field of AI and Generative AI, Benioff has developed in recent months a quite critical position about the real possibilities that this currently offers. technology.
In this sense, in addition to criticizing Microsoft’s development, he also used Elon Musk’s social network to affirm that “much of the current potential of AI is simply exaggerated” or that “AI is not yet curing cancer or solving the climate change as experts say.
Whether he really thinks about it, or if it is more of an outburst to make us think, is something we will leave up to you. But it is undoubtedly a curious statement, considering that in a recent interview for Fast Company, he claimed to have “never been more excited about anything at Salesforce, perhaps in my entire career,” referring to Agentforce, a tool that allows companies create their own AI agents.