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Insane: Microsoft's latest ad proves how useless Copilot on Windows 11 actually is (www.neowin.net)

submitted 4 days ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/technology@lemmy.zip

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Microsoft has published an ad promoting Copilot on Windows 11, but it contains a hilarious error that actually proves how useless the AI is.

top 23 comments

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[–] HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social 56 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

To anyone thinking this is "not such a big deal":

Consider this is one of the most valuable, influential companies on the planet. They're pushing Copilot like their bottom line depends on it.

Not only did Copilot give an objectively incorrect response - and bring into question the fundamental usefulness of the feature - I think what's being glossed over is: They published this.

For a company that's so desperate to push a clearly half-baked, unwanted feature - publishing an ad showing it malfunctioning is hilariously inept. It's not just a bad look for the product, it's an embarrassment for the company.

[–] nabladabla@sopuli.xyz 4 points 4 days ago

Since the start they have been publishing pre-made falsehoods that they should have had every reason to fact check before making a big deal about how great the thing is.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 55 points 4 days ago (1 children)

…In the video, the influencer activates Copilot with the "Hey Copilot" voice activation and then asks it how they can increase the font size via Windows Settings. This is actually a pretty common scenario, especially when the elderly are interacting with tech hardware or when you connect your PC to an external monitor and the text is just too small to make out.

Now, Copilot asks Aura to navigate to the Display settings in Windows and change the text scale to 150% which is the recommended option. The really funny part here is that the scaling is already set to 150%, so changing it wouldn't really make a difference. Apparently in order to work around this gaffe, Aura quickly manually sets the scale to 200%, which solves the problem but isn't what Copilot actually suggested…

[+] Enkers@sh.itjust.works -18 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Aura quickly manually sets the scale to 200%, which solves the problem but isn't what Copilot actually suggested…

Isn't that what almost anyone would do?

I've seen some pretty silly AI blunders before, but this one seems rather harmless. You're still going to end up at the setting you need to change to solve the problem, which to me falls squarely in the "close enough" bin.

[–] mindlesscrollyparrot@discuss.tchncs.de 42 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Copilot didn't suggest 150% in the context of a set of instructions. He specifically asked Copilot which percentage to set. That was the only task which Copilot was being asked to solve at that point in time.

You might also say that this is a simple task, so nobody would actually ask Copilot what percentage to use but isn't that the point? This task, which Copilot failed on, is a simple task.

[–] Dagnet@lemmy.world 24 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I think it's funny that copilot goes around the Internet scraping everyone's info but somehow doesn't have access to a value in Windows' own settings

[–] Black616Angel@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 4 days ago

The even funnier thing is, that it most probably has, but it prompt injected itself with the word "recommended".

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works -1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

He specifically asked Copilot which percentage to set.

Ah, I see. That's not at all clear from what the article says:

In the video, the influencer activates Copilot with the "Hey Copilot" voice activation and then asks it how they can increase the font size via Windows Settings.

Perhaps the original video has what you're talking about.

[–] mindlesscrollyparrot@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 4 days ago

Yes, it does. It's only a short video but, anyway:

He has already opened the drop-down, where 150% is currently selected. He asks "what percentage should I click?" and Copilot replies "let's start with 150%, which is the recommended size". He hesitates slightly, then says "let's...", clicks 200% and then says "boom!".

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 26 points 4 days ago

It's also a symptom of disregard for customers. Instead of just redoing the shot, this time making sure that it's set to 100%, they just went "eh, nobody will notice". It's insulting.

[–] rozodru@pie.andmc.ca 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

the problem is two fold and this applies to all LLMs.

according to the article the person asked HOW to increase the font size. Copilot then tells Aura to go increase the font size so it's not exactly what the person asked.
like all LLMs it MUST provide a solution. it MUST do something. Copilot asks Aura to increase the font size to 150%. it's already at 150%. but instead of going back to the user and saying "the font size is already set to 150%, would you like to increase it more?" it just goes ahead and bumps it up to 200 because it has to. it has no choice, it must provide some kind of solution. LLMs like GPT5, Claude, etc will do similar crap which ultimately shows that recent models are all collectively garbage. they now must ALL provide some sort of solution even if the majority of the time said solutions are actually hallucinations. LLMs aren't allowed to say "I don't know" or "it's already done" or whatever.

So this video/article just shows how pointless and unreliable LLMs/AI are at even the most basic things. They've all been told that they must provide some kind of solution, always. It's especially bad now with recent updates. Claude will hallucinate 8 times out of 10 for its solutions. GPT5 now just info dumps on you hoping something in there will resonate, it can't provide an accurate precise solution anymore it just vomits on your plate and calls it a meal.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Hold up,

[...] instead of going back to the user and saying "the font size is already set to 150%, would you like to increase it more?" it just goes ahead and bumps it up to 200 because it has to.

No it did not. Copilot doesn't click or change anything in this video, that's the user clicking 200% after copilot told him to make it 150%.

The only actual flaws here is Copilot not seeing the size was already set to 150%

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

So copilot failed at the most basic thing in windows, which is the entire point.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Right, so there's no need to make up something it did wrong

[–] rozodru@pie.andmc.ca 3 points 4 days ago

sorry I just went off the article and didn't watch the video.

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago

It seems like people are so eagre to bash AI that they're willing to invent their own narrative to shit on anyone who remotely sounds like they support it, even if that's not the case.

I appreciate you actually taking the time and effort to read.

[–] Mikina@programming.dev 27 points 4 days ago

The article doesn't really mention it and only focuses on it providing an incorrect value (150% when it's already at 150%), but this bit that's added as a reader context to the Tweet is even bigger blunder:

The user asked how to increase text size, but Copilot incorrectly advised changing the "Scale" option in Settings > System > Display. This enlarges text, but also resizes UI, apps, and other elements

To change only text size, go to Settings > Accessibility > Text size.

[–] Wooki@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Microsoft slop OS with slop 365 subscription for only $19/month.

[–] Wfh@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago

You should pay with ai generated $19 bills.

[–] SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works 12 points 4 days ago

I guess in order to have artificial intelligence you must first have genuine stupidity

[–] luciole@beehaw.org -2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Now, Copilot asks Aura to navigate to the Display settings in Windows and change the text scale to 150% which is the recommended option. The really funny part here is that the scaling is already set to 150%, so changing it wouldn't really make a difference. Apparently in order to work around this gaffe, Aura quickly manually sets the scale to 200%, which solves the problem but isn't what Copilot actually suggested

Not gonna lie I was expecting something more substantial.

[–] Manjushri@piefed.social 16 points 4 days ago

Yeah, but to be fair it is substantial enough. This is very basic support issue. Most users (I suspect) wouldn't need any help with this. Any user who does need help from Copilot to change the font size would probably be further confused. If Copilot cannot handle something this simple, how in the world can anyone expect it to be useful and accurate in more complicated situations?

[–] Mikina@programming.dev 4 points 4 days ago

The article does not mention this, but it's also not a correct solution at all for increasing text size (which was what the guy was asking it how to do). From the reader context of the tweet:

The user asked how to increase text size, but Copilot incorrectly advised changing the "Scale" option in Settings > System > Display. This enlarges text, but also resizes UI, apps, and other elements

To change only text size, go to Settings > Accessibility > Text size.