That's like saying there's no point in attending a lecture on "how to get the best out of your time at University" because University courses are taught in spoken language so you could just ask the professors.
> We've disabled it already. Basically it was giving product tips which was kinda ok on Copilot originated PR's but then when we added the ability to have Copilot work on _any_ PR by mentioning it the behaviour became icky. Disabled product tips entirely thanks to the feedback.
I’m grateful they disabled it, but their response still feels a bit tone deaf to me.
> Disabled product tips entirely thanks to the feedback.
This sounds like they are saying “thanks for your input!”, when really it feels more like “if you didn’t go out of your way to complain, we would have left it in forever!”
Of course they would have. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Why do you think governments spend billions upon trillions trying to get their citizens to essentially "shut up" instead of improving their conditions?
I've not seen any evidence that these were ads and not "tips".
Ads implies someone was paying for them. Promoting internal product features is not the same thing - if it was then every piece of software that shows a tip would be an ad product, and would be regulated as such.
By my understanding of the term, Netflix can most definitely advertise Netflix shows on its own platform, a flyer that a barber hangs on a public bulletin board is an advertisement, and the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile is advertising hotdogs when it drives through my town. Do you not consider these things to be advertisements?
I think this particular story is a very different scandal if it turns out GitHub were charging other companies money in exchange for having Copilot include promotions for their products in PRs as opposed to Copilot adding uncompensated usage "tips" to those PRs.
1. People using the word "advertisement" when commenting on this situation aren't necessarily saying that's what's happening, and they may find these tips/ads distasteful anyway (I know I do).
2. Even if someone isn't literally paying Microsoft to insert these tips/ads, promoting third parties which are themselves Microsoft customers still benefits Microsoft.
I could buy it if this was just being shown to the person who was using Copilot. Hey, here's a feature you might like. Seems OK. But it was put into the PR description. That gets seen by potentially many people, who are not necessarily using Copilot.
When apple puts an advert for an apple show in front of for all mankind, that's an advert.
Maybe I put up with it and it just adds to my subconscious seething, or maybe I get the episode elsewhere because if I watch on jellyfin I don't have the advert. Of course that then harms the show as my viewing isn't counted, but they've cancelled it anyway so perhaps it doesn't really matter.
If it isn't an advert, then at very least there's a button to disable it.
Season 5 is coming out now with season 6 already confirmed coming—which, granted, will be its last, but that’s not a cancellation in any sense of the word.
ads usually implied a financial incentive. But that's not always the case. Technically, if I was to praise someone's blog and link to it, that would also be an ad.
Ads tend to also imply tangential information shown to you in an undesired area. If this was some tool tip and not embedded in the PR comment, many wouldn't call it an ad.
> We've disabled it already. Basically it was giving product tips which was kinda ok on Copilot originated PR's but then when we added the ability to have Copilot work on _any_ PR by mentioning it the behaviour became icky. Disabled product tips entirely thanks to the feedback.
Microsoft has had a lot of naming blunders in the past but this has to be their worst. Copilot is currently, a tool to review PRs on github, the new name for windows cortana, the new name for microsoft office, a new version of windows laptop/pc, a plugin for VS code that can use many models, and probably a number of other things. None of these products/features have any relation to each other.
So if someone says they use Copilot that could mean anything from they use Word, to they use Claude in VS Code.
>Microsoft has had a lot of naming blunders in the past but this has to be their worst.
Nah I still rate "Windows App" the Windows App that lets you remotely access Windows Apps. I hate it to death, its like a black hole that sucks all meaning from conversations about it.
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