- Copilot GPTs are specialized versions of the Microsoft Copilot tailored to specific tasks.
- Microsoft offers four GPTs, including a designer, vacation planner, cooking assistant, and fitness trainer.
- To use Copilot GPTs, open Copilot (web), sign in with your Microsoft account, choose the GPT, and compose the prompt.
Microsoft rolls out four additional variants of Copilot tailored to specific tasks. Although you can ask the chatbot virtually anything using natural language, the company is making different GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) available for different use cases, including fitness, travel, cooking, and image creation.
What are Copilot GPTs?
A Copilot GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a specialized version (or large language models (LLM)) of the Microsoft Copilot with different training, leveraging the capabilities of GPT-4 developed by OpenAI. A GPT is designed to assist you on a specific topic. In this case, Microsoft is introducing four GPTs for image generation, vacation planning, cooking, and fitness training. Unlike the general-purpose version of the chatbot AI, which can handle many tasks, these specialized GPTs focus on assisting only in their respective areas of expertise.
As part of the list of GPTs, you will also find Copilot because it’s actually a GPT as well. It can get a little confusing, so allow me to explain. The Microsoft Copilot is in its form a GPT, but the difference is that this chatbot has access to the entire data set. (This approach usually results in more mistakes.)
On the other hand, a “Copilot GPT” has only access to a specific type of data, making the chatbot more accurate and reliable on a specific topic.
Finally, in a way, Copilot GPTs are similar to the Copilot plugins, but the big difference is that plugins are applications that allow Copilot to connect with other chatbots from services that specialize in specific tasks. For example, the “OpenTable” plugin can help you recommend restaurants and make reservations, and the “Instacart” plugin offers recipes and create the list of ingredients you need to cook a specific meal.
Furthermore, the ability to access information from the internet is part of the “Search” plugin powered by Bing, as the chatbot itself doesn’t have access to the web.
List of free Copilot GPTs
Microsoft is currently rolling out four Copilot GPTs, including:
- Designer: This Copilot GPT is for generating images based on text prompts. You can ask it to create visuals like “Create a black bear drinking coffee in the city,” which will generate several variations.
- Vacation Planner: This GPT helps with creating detailed travel plans. For example, if you’re planning a trip to Paris, the “Vacation Planner” can provide a comprehensive itinerary, including famous landmarks and their descriptions.
- Cooking Assistant: This GPT offers cooking advice and recipes. Providing prompts such as “How to make chocolate chunk cookies from scratch” generates useful culinary information, often sourced from various websites.
- Fitness Trainer: This specializes in health and exercise tips. Typing in a prompt like “Create a list of easy exercises for beginners to lose belly fat and improve appearance quickly without equipment” will yield a list of suitable workouts, often with links to additional resources.
How to use Copilot GPTs
You can access these Copilot GPTs from the Copilot web app. You don’t need a Copilot Pro subscription, but you will have to sign in to your Microsoft account.
Also, since the web app is accessible from any browser, you can use different web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. However, they’re not available through the chatbot interface on Windows 11 or through the Microsoft Edge sidebar.
To use these Copilot GPTs, use these simple steps:
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Sign in with your Microsoft account.
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Choose the Copilot GPT (Designer, Vacation planner, Cooking assistant, or Fitness trainer) from the top-right corner.
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Compose the prompt.
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Click the Submit button.
While using one of these modes, you cannot change the response type between “Creative,” “Balanced,” and “Precise.”
If you don’t know how to compose a question, each of the GPTs includes some samples you can choose from to spark creativity in using these chatbot variants.
When interacting with these Copilot GPTs, don’t think of typing the perfect prompt. Just write a question and submit it. Since these GPTs are “experts” on the topics, they will ask you follow-up questions to ensure you receive the most relevant answer. (I said “most relevant” and not the “right” answer since AI can always make mistakes.)
These Copilot GPTs are free, but Microsoft also offers a Copilot Pro subscription, which will soon include the “Copilot GPT Builder.” This tool will allow you to create custom GPTs for specific tasks or topics without coding experience.
The Copilot Pro subscription also includes additional features and functionalities, such as access to the chatbot from Word, Excel, and other Office apps, you have more tokens to create images, priority access to GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo, and more.
What do you think about these new GPTs? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].