Excel Gets Copilot AI for Formulas, But Microsoft Warns Against High-Stakes Use

Microsoft has introduced its powerful Copilot AI functionality to Excel, allowing users to generate formulas with natural language prompts. However, the tech giant is already issuing significant warnings about its use, advising against relying on it for any tasks demanding accuracy or reproducibility.

Currently accessible to certain Microsoft 365 Copilot Beta Channel users, this new feature aims to simplify data manipulation in Excel. Instead of manually writing complex formulas, users can instruct Copilot on their desired outcome and specify the relevant cells. For example, typing =COPILOT("Summarize this feedback", A2:A20) could prompt the AI to generate a formula that summarizes content within a specified column.

Microsoft suggests that the =COPILOT() function is best suited for tasks like classifying, summarizing, and generating content within your spreadsheets. This capability promises to streamline certain aspects of data analysis and content organization.

Despite its potential, Microsoft is clear about the limitations. The company explicitly warns against using Copilot in Excel for “any task requiring accuracy or reproducibility,” specifically mentioning numerical calculations. Furthermore, it advises users to avoid the feature for “financial reporting, legal documents, or other high-stakes scenarios.” This cautionary stance is particularly noteworthy, given that precision and reliability are often primary reasons users turn to Excel in the first place.

As with other generative AI tools, users should be vigilant about potential issues such as “hallucinations” or misinterpretations of prompts by the Copilot AI. These occurrences can lead to strange or incorrect results, which naturally raises questions about its overall utility for critical business functions.

Privacy is another crucial consideration. Microsoft has addressed this by stating in its announcement blog post: “Your data sent through the COPILOT function is never used to train or improve the AI models. The information you input remains confidential and and is used solely to generate your requested output.” This assurance aims to build trust among users regarding the handling of their sensitive data.

Being a beta feature, Copilot in Excel is still under active development and refinement through user feedback. Its current functionality also includes some limitations beyond accuracy concerns; it’s capped at 100 calls per 10 minutes or 300 calls per hour. Additionally, the feature cannot access “live web data or internal business documents,” restricting its scope to data already present within the spreadsheet itself.