Some Thoughts About Copilot Pro Custom GPT Builder and the Future (Premium)

Following the quiet release of four custom Copilot GPTs for image creation, vacation planning, cooking assistance, and fitness training two weeks ago, Microsoft this week made its Custom GPT Builder available to all Copilot Pro subscribers. So I decided to take a look, though I feel like the GPT I'd like to build, one that utilizes only Thurrott.com as its data source, isn't currently possible.

Copilot GPT Builder is well-hidden, at least for now: If you visit the Copilot website, you'll find a new "See all Copilot GPTs" link under Copilot and the four custom GPTs in the right rail. To me, this link suggests the availability of more custom GPTs, but that's not the case currently. Instead, the pop-up that appears provides access to a new "Create a new Copilot GPT" option in addition to those four custom GPTs.

The resulting experience provides two ways to create a custom GPT: You can do so conversationally, where Copilot prompts you to give it some starter information—a name, plus one or more prompts that describe what you're looking for—so it can then step you through the rest of the process. Or, you can switch over to the Configure tab and just fill out a form.

I started with the conversational wizard, as will most, I'm sure. In time, I suspect I'll be familiar enough with this tool to jump right into the Configure tab. But the nice thing about the wizard is that it fills out the form for you, so you can see how that works.

I was explicit: I want a GPT that searches my website thurrott.com. But as I quickly found out, getting there might be impossible. No matter how I configured this thing, it would poll the entire web for the information it needed. More on that in a moment.

Copilot recommended the name Thurrott Search Assistant, but I changed that to Thurrott GPT. Perhaps Thurrott.ai or similar would be better, I don't know. First things first.

Then, I was asked for the main purpose of my GPT. To this, I responded, to answer questions about the personal technology topics that we cover on Thurrott.com.

After it updated the GPT profile, I was asked about the emphasis. More of a focus on software or hardware? Should it avoid any brands or topics? It should focus on both software and hardware. The emphasis is Microsoft productivity solutions but we also cover Apple, Google, and other personal technology topics.

After another profile update, it asked about rules and guidelines, and tone. Are there phrases it should avoid? To this, I wrote it can be formal or informal depending on the topic, in keeping with how I approach my own content. It should avoid politics and other topics not related to personal technology.

Understood, I was told, after another profile update. Should this GPT sound friendly, professional, enthusiastic, or something else? It should be friendly and professional, I wrote.

Perfect! It said, updating the profile yet again, listing the details.

It was time to test the GPT. S...