What generative AI is, and what it is not

How it works

Generative AI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot and the popular public chat assistants, are built on large language models. These are trained on enormous amounts of text, and learn which words tend to follow which. When you ask a question, the tool produces the most likely-sounding answer, one piece at a time.

That is why the writing is fluent: it is built from patterns in how people write.

What it is good at

• Drafting emails, letters and descriptions for you to edit.
• Summarizing long documents, meeting notes or email threads.
• Rewording something for a different audience.
• Suggesting ideas, outlines and options.

Where it goes wrong

• It can be confidently wrong. It produces what sounds right. It sometimes invents facts, figures, quotes and sources, which is often called hallucination.
• It does not know your business unless it is connected to your data, and then it only knows what it can see.
• What you type may go somewhere. Free public tools may use what you enter. Business versions, set up properly, keep your data within your company.

A good rule

Use it as a fast first draft from a capable assistant who sometimes makes things up. Check facts, numbers and names before anything goes out, and never paste in confidential information unless your business has approved the tool.