Microsoft Word Now Uses Copilot AI Assistant to Automatically Summarize Documents

Microsoft has released an update that uses AI to automatically summarize documents in Microsoft Word. Powered by Copilot for Microsoft 365, this new feature generates clear and concise summaries as soon as a file is opened.

Currently, Copilot AI doesn’t generate summaries for files opened in Word desktop apps. With this update, a summary created by Copilot will appear at the top of the document to help users quickly grasp the main points. Users can choose to hide the summary or open the Copilot chat pane to ask specific questions about the document.

“We live in a world of content abundance, so we’re constantly looking for more efficient ways to process information. Microsoft Copilot can help alleviate this situation by providing an automatic summary at the top of your Word documents,” Microsoft explained.

How does the automatic summary generation feature work in Microsoft Word?

To try out this new feature, Microsoft Word users will need to follow the steps mentioned below:

• Open an existing Microsoft Word document to view the automatic summary that appears between the ribbon and the document.
• Click the View more button to expand the summary.
• Select the ^ icon at the top right corner of the dialog box to collapse the summary.

Microsoft Word users who edit or update a document will need to click the “Check for new summary” button. Copilot for Microsoft 365 will then assess the changes to decide if a new summary should be generated.

Microsoft is gradually rolling out the new automatic summary generation feature to select Word users with a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license. This feature will be enabled by default for users on the Microsoft Word desktop client for Windows and macOS, as well as the Word Web app. Microsoft is actively working on enhancing this feature with personalized summaries, suggested questions, topics, and insights.