Signal Update: Can Microsoft’s productivity apps survive the age of AI?

According to the latest update, are Microsoft’s core productivity apps — Word, Excel, and PowerPoint — endangered by the rise of AI?

In a fresh development, “Whether Microsoft Word or Excel will be rendered obsolete by AI remains to be seen,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment strategist at Cresset Wealth Advisors, which owns the stock, according to Bloomberg. That’s the point that Bloomberg and its sources addressed in coverage this week, noting that Microsoft is being buffeted by AI disruption as its stock plunges.

The report highlights that “We don’t know what the environment is going to look like in a few years, which opens up very real questions like, will we even use a Microsoft suite anymore?” Keith Fitz-Gerald, principal at the Fitz-Gerald Group, added.

The report highlights that the focus of this newsletter is productivity: from programs to devices to peripherals, all with the idea to get what you need to get done, efficiently. Welcome to PCWorld’s newsletter, Smart Mode!

According to the latest update, if you want the most recent issue in your inbox each week, just sign up right here. I’m your host, Mark Hachman, covering the productivity tips, tools, and trends that you need to know about, both from within PCWorld and beyond.

The report highlights that but now, with an added injection of AI, Microsoft wants Word, PowerPoint, and Excel to actually generate those results for you, via Copilot. Microsoft’s productivity apps have historically been designed to help you organize, format and massage ideas into actionable results.

Industry observers note that and they can do that without the need for Microsoft applications — let alone subscriptions! — at all. The trouble is external AI applications like ChatGPT and Claude can already do what CoPilot does in various capacities.

Industry observers note that if Microsoft users start to realize what AI applications can do, then yes. So, could millions upon millions of users simply toss Word, PowerPoint, and Excel overboard?

The report highlights that but today you can ask ChatGPT to format your straight-text notes into beautiful documents. Indeed, these days Word isn’t much more than a scratchpad with a file format that everyone uses. Take a look at the menu options for Word: Most of them simply relate to formatting and layout.

Industry observers note that one of the strengths that Microsoft touts is Copilot’s ability to ingest multiple documents and create a PowerPoint from it. But what Microsoft doesn’t acknowledge is that other AI applications can do the same thing, and many organizations are already leaning on Claude and its competitors for just that task. AI chatbots also shine in content synthesis, and this puts PowerPoint at risk.

According to the latest update, one of the things keeping business users on Excel is the vast connective tissue of linked spreadsheets. You adjust a value and changes ripple across shared documents. But what users have asked for from Excel — and Microsoft has delivered — is deeper analysis of trends and what actions to take as a result. Connecting these dots is one of AI’s strengths. But, again, that AI doesn’t have to be authored by Microsoft. Even Excel isn’t immune.

Industry observers note that user complaints, or simply apathy, run rampant, and a quick survey of our office reveals no one uses Copilot — and we’re PCWorld for Pete’s sake. And while million of users have grown up with the Office apps, is anyone really a “fan” of them? Mechanic creep has given Word, PowerPoint, and Excel extremely heavy, often indecipherable interfaces, while the LLMs are basically just single-field chatbots. Copilot itself hasn’t done Microsoft any favors in the AI race.

In a fresh development, anthropic’s Claude Pro Plan, to use one example, costs $20 per month. That’s $7 more, but you can do so much more with a general LLM, and the tailwinds are on AI’s side. Microsoft’s 365 Family plan currently costs $12.99 per month.

The report highlights that for most people, this means what tasks can I get away with doing, or not doing, during that 2 PM post-lunch crash? For me, I tend to do better scheduling quick, purposeful tasks in the morning and lengthier, more thoughtful tasks in the afternoon. Determine what time of day you’re most productive, and schedule tasks accordingly, recommends Melanie Chinchilla, a clinical psychologist at Approach Therapy, according to this Today segment.

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The report highlights that he has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Highly adopted Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room. Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology.