Microsoft is introducing a “deep research” AI-powered utility in Microsoft 365 Copilot, its AI chatbot app.
In recent months, several deep research agents have been introduced for chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok.
They are powered by so-called reasoning AI models, which are capable of thinking through problems and fact-checking themselves.
These abilities are arguably crucial for undertaking in-depth research on a subject including Microsoft’s varieties- the Researcher and Analyst programs.
Researcher integrates “advanced orchestration” and “deep search capabilities” with OpenAI’s deep research model, which powers the company’s ChatGPT deep research tool.
Microsoft asserts that Researcher is capable of conducting analyses, such as the development of a go-to-market strategy and the production of a quarterly report for a client.
Microsoft stated that Analyst is “optimized to perform advanced data analysis” and is constructed on OpenAI’s o3-mini reasoning model.
The analyst iteratively progresses through problems, implementing measures to refine its “thinking” and offer a comprehensive response to inquiries.
The programming language Python can also be used by analysts to address complex data queries, and Microsoft has added that their “work” can be exposed for inspection.
Microsoft’s deep research tools are slightly more distinctive than their competitors due to their ability to access work data and the global web.
For instance, researchers may utilize third-party data connectors to access data from AI “agents,” tools, and applications such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Confluence.
Nevertheless, the genuine obstacle is to prevent instruments like Researcher and Analyst from making up information or experiencing hallucinations.
Models such as o3-mini and deep research are not flawless; they occasionally miscite work, draw incorrect conclusions, and rely on questionable public websites to inform their reasoning.
Microsoft is introducing a new Frontier program that will grant Microsoft 365 Copilot customers access to Researcher and Analyst.
Starting in April, Frontier subscribers will receive Researcher and Analyst roles, which will be the first to receive experimental Copilot features.
