Microsoft announced plans to introduce “computer use” to Copilot Studio, the company’s SaaS AI agent building solution. Like the better-known class of tools known as robotic process automation (RPA), computer use with Copilot Studio will allow agents to do what RPA does: interact with on-screen graphical user interfaces as if it was a human user, but in a repetitive, automated way. 

“[C]omputer use is coming to Copilot Studio through an early access research preview. This new capability allows your Copilot Studio agents to treat websites and desktop applications as tools,” wrote Microsoft CVP Charles Lamanna in a blog post. 

The use case for computer use is much the same as RPA, Lamanna explained, such as when there is no API for interacting with an external system. Computer use in Copilot Studio will cover both desktop and browser applications. And it runs on Microsoft-hosted infrastructure, according to Lamanna.