Microsoft’s most recent artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Copilot, has been positioned as an “everyday AI companion,” but the implications of this for its users warrant examination. One of Copilot’s noteworthy features is its capacity to distill protracted documents with a mere prompt. This makes it well-suited for the compression of lengthy reports, the extraction of crucial points from a contract, or the distillation of main ideas from minutes of a meeting. Copilot can rapidly scrutinize the text and swiftly produce a succinct summary within a matter of seconds.
But how exactly can one leverage this document summarizer? Let us delve deeper into the process.
Utilizing Windows Copilot to Summarize Documents:
1. Initiate Copilot from the taskbar icon positioned in the bottom-right corner of your Windows 11 desktop.
2. Click on the paperclip icon to append a file (.docx, .pdf, .txt, etc.).
3. Select the document intended for summarization.
4. In the chat prompt, simply type “Summarise this document” or a more specific directive.
5. Press send, and Copilot will generate a summary in the chat window.
Alternatively, specificity in prompts enables the extraction of precisely what is required:
“Summarise the key points from this contract”
“Provide a 3-sentence summary highlighting essential information in this report”
“Extract a bulleted list of the 5 main takeaways from these meeting notes”
“Condense this research paper into a 200-word abstract”
The array of possibilities is extensive, contingent on the formulation of the request. It is possible to request Copilot for summarization tailored for different audiences, the extraction of particular data points, or the rephrasing of the summary in one’s own voice.
The complimentary 1MB limit is ample, but for more sizable documents, an upgrade to Copilot Pro for Rs 2,000 per month unveils 10MB file summarization among other premium features. Nevertheless, for fundamental summarization needs, the complimentary version is a boon.
In the event that a subscription is not a viable option, it is feasible to extract the text and save it as a plain text document to remain within the size limit. 1MB has the capacity to accommodate a substantial amount of plain text.