alt Hacker NewsI'm not sure whether Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT use different system prompts or if there's something else behind it, but Copilot tends to have this overly cautious, sterile tone. It always seems to err on the side of safety, whereas ChatGPT generally just does what you ask as long as it's reasonable.
So it often comes down to this choice: Open https://copilot.cloud.microsoft/, go through the Microsoft 365 login process, dig your phone out for two-factor authentication, approve it via Microsoft Authenticator, finally type your request only to get a response that feels strangely lobotomized.
Or… just go to https://chatgpt.com/, type your prompt, and actually get an answer you can work with.
It feels like every part of Microsoft wants to do the right thing, but in the end they come out with an inferior product.
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I wonder if a Lexus/Toyota Acura/Honda Lamborghini/Audi OpenAI/Microsoft marketing split isn't in the best interests of tech giants going forward since LLMs are nondeterministic, unlike the deterministic nation-states they've built up till now...
Why is Microsoft special?
ChatGPT. Perplexity. Google AI Mode. All let you get a message off.
… WAIT! copilot dot microsoft dot com lets you just send a message without logging in.
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heh, the second result on DuckDuckGo is an MS article: “What is Copilot, and how can you use it?”
Products mentioned in the article, they say:
| Copilot | Copilot app | Copilot for individuals |
And a link for each one. Does Satya squirm when he sees that, but doesn’t have the power to change it?
Also the word “individuals” (allegedly previously mentioned) appears only once on the page.
I think that must be it. The system prompt is likely it.
Just yesterday was I talking to a customer who was so happy with our "co-pilot" compared to ChatGPT and others that he wants to roll it out to the rest of the company.
We use Azure-OpenAI + RAG + system prompt targeted at architects (AEC). It really seems the system prompt makes all/most of the difference. Because now, users will always get answers targeted towards their profession/industry.