Expansion of AI Assistants in Education: Microsoft and Google’s Latest Innovations
With the advent of ChatGPT, the landscape of AI assistants has seen remarkable growth, prompting major tech companies to enhance their offerings significantly. In particular, Microsoft and Google have recently unveiled key updates to their generative AI products, Copilot and Gemini, aimed at the education sector.
Microsoft’s Educational Tools: Copilot Products
Microsoft is addressing the needs of the education market with two innovative Copilot offerings. The first is the Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is a generative assistant designed to leverage organizational data, including emails, documents, and meetings, through Microsoft Graph. The second, Copilot Chat, functions as a versatile AI assistant that pulls information from web resources and comes equipped with features such as file uploads, image generation, and Copilot Pages.
In a recent announcement, Microsoft stated that Copilot Chat is now accessible to students aged 13 and older. This AI-driven chat tool, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, offers a secure and free chat experience for students and educators while ensuring enterprise-grade data protection and management are firmly in place.
Google’s Strategic Push: Gemini AI Assistant
Features of the Google AI Pro Plan
Students availing the Google AI Pro plan can benefit from the following enhancements:
- Access to the advanced Gemini 2.5 Pro model
- Deep Research capabilities for the creation of custom research reports
- NotebookLM, which offers five times more audio and video overviews
- Veo 3, a feature that transforms text or images into 8-second videos with sound
- Increased usage limits for Jules, Google’s asynchronous AI coding agent
- 2 TB of shared storage across Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail
Introducing Guided Learning with Gemini
Moreover, Google has introduced Guided Learning, a novel mode within the Gemini environment tailored to assist students throughout their academic journeys. Unlike traditional Q&A methods, Guided Learning focuses on facilitating understanding by providing questions and step-by-step assistance, mirroring the newly implemented ChatGPT Study Mode.
This strategic alignment by both Microsoft and Google signifies their commitment to revolutionizing the educational experience through cutting-edge AI technologies. As these companies continue to innovate, educators and students can expect increasingly sophisticated tools designed to enhance learning outcomes.
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