Microsoft has a clever way of showing you AI is normal (especially if you’re alone)

Microsoft wants Copilot to be your everyday companion. But what does this really mean? And when are you likely to use it most?

The company just offered some answers and you might be especially interested if you happen to spend a lot of time alone.

Also: The best AI chatbots: ChatGPT isn’t the only one worth trying

Perhaps you haven’t noticed yet, but Microsoft is already pushing a democratic slogan in social media: “AI for all,” as it shows how the tool can prepare you for, for example, meetings.

“How does this tool make me feel?” you might wonder. “BOOMSHAKALAKA,” is Microsoft’s answer in the tweet.

But if Copilot is for everyone, when might everyone need it the most?

Your new best friend? Your only best friend?

Microsoft has just released a YouTube video that suggests the most perfect time to have a Copilot is when you’re wandering the world alone.

In this case, the YouTube video’s purpose is to address a big question: The Chicago Pizza Debate, which Microsoft wants to solve  “ONCE AND FOR ALL.” Using AI, you understand.

What can AI possibly understand about pizza? It’s never going to eat one.

But this video features Liv Pearsall as the moderator of the big debate. Should you be unaware of Pearsall she is, reportedly, a “multi-faceted sensation” and “a leading figure within the new wave of Gen Z comedic talent.”

She also studied applied math.

Here, though, her performance and that of her new AI friend is quite disarming. You see, Pearsall makes a very good case for Copilot actually substituting for one — or perhaps even all — of your friends.

She wafts about Chicago using Copilot as her guide. She turns up at a little joint called Mr. Beef. She vaguely recognizes it, but turns to Copilot for more. 

Also: Snapchat AI gets even weirder: Introducing AI pets

Merely by taking a photograph, she discovers that Mr. Beef is where they shot most of the pilot for “The Bear,” the show that the Emmy organizers believe to be a comedy.

Copilot even makes suggestions for what Pearsall should order. It’s almost like her BourdAIn.

Finally, a pizza in action

But wait, what’s this got to do with pizza? Well, that part comes after a tour of various Chicago landmarks, with Copilot being endlessly fascinating. It’s like one of those friends who simply knows stuff. More stuff than you.

By now, you’ll either be deeply involved in this Copiloted tour or you’ll be frustrated that a video that was supposed to be about pizza has not offered even the shallowest dish.

Finally, Pearsall arrives at Lou Malnati’s, the famous Chicago pizza joint. (Citation: Copilot.)

Also: The best food delivery apps: DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and more compared

It’s here that our intrepid guide enters the great pizza debate: Deep Dish or Tavern?

Apparently, most locals prefer Tavern pizza — thinner crust, cut into squares — rather than Deep Dish. Will this influence Pearsall? Will Copliot’s prodding push her away from her favorite Deep Dish? How powerful a friend is this Copilot?

Pearsall insists she still prefers Deep Dish — though who eats pizza with a knife and fork?

The marketing of AI

This video might seem a touch mundane to you, but that’s precisely the point.

More often than not, many people really are alone these days. Loneliness is becoming not just a factor of life, but a genuine public health problem.

Also: Can AI curb loneliness in older adults? This robot companion is proving it’s possible

Microsoft wants you to feel that Copilot is a very, very normal companion, something/someone you turn to naturally.

I fancy that Microsoft has done a slightly better (marketing) job than, say, Google in presenting its AI to the world. I just wandered over to Google’s YouTube page and all I could find for Gemini was a video announcing Bard had become Gemini.

Once upon a time, Microsoft and marketing went together like Bill Gates and joke-telling.

Yet since Satya Nadella became CEO, the company has radiated a rather more human attitude and a distinct emphasis on the importance of presentation.

Why, just a couple of weeks ago Adweek named Nadella its Digital and Tech Executive of the Year. It offered that “the CEO has secured the company’s positioning as a leader in AI.”

How did he do it? By coming across as a (relatively) normal human being, interested in human feelings.

Also: 3 ways we tried to outwit AI: Legislation, preparation, intervention

So for every headline that reads “Microsoft insiders worry the company has become just ‘IT for OpenAI'”, you’ll likely find Microsoft continuing to present Copilot as the bastion of normal, modern behavior — something its new head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, might further pursue.

Another positive, of course, could be this: More people will whip out their phones to take pictures of their surroundings in order to learn about them, rather than taking selfies.

That, to me, would feel like a vast step forward for civilization.