Microsoft has recently begun to vigorously promote its AI assistant Copilot through social media. However, its marketing rhetoric has triggered a strong backlash among users.Microsoft claims that it is building and integrating Copilot into the Edge browser and Windows 11 for work scenarios because it hears the demand for "you want to have Copilot mode at work."
However, users did not buy this statement and believed that this was entirely Microsoft's "wishful thinking."
The idea of the Copilot mode of the Edge browser is to allow users to delegate tasks to AI agents, which will then perform multi-step workflows on their behalf, such as booking trips.
Microsoft claimed that it was creating "work-safe and friendly AI browsing" and positioned this feature as a tool to improve work efficiency. Unexpectedly, many users left messages on social media to express their dissatisfaction:
"I find you guys disturbingly out of touch with reality," one user wrote, while another pointedly pointed out:"No, you heard that wrong. Literally no one is asking for all this AI. In fact, everyone wants to know how to remove it."
One IT professional with decades of experience managing Windows servers added, "No IT professional wants Copilot integrated into Windows at all."
Despite the overwhelming criticism, Microsoft's team adopted an "ostrich policy". They selectively responded to a small number of comments that praised the Copilot model, while turning a blind eye to thousands of comments that questioned and protested.