Trust, but check

Microsoft Copilot is a drafting and research assistant. You remain responsible for the work. In regulated professions that is not a slogan; it is the job.

The good news is that checking is a skill you can make routine.

1. Know the common failure modes

• Invented detail: a plausible clause number, case name, date or figure that does not exist in the source.
• Wrong source: an answer built from an older version of a document or the wrong client folder.
• Lost nuance: a summary that drops a condition, exception or "subject to".
• Arithmetic slips: totals and percentages that do not reconcile.
• Agreement bias: going along with a wrong assumption in your prompt.

2. The five-point check

1. Source: open the citations. Is it the right document, the right version, the right client?
2. Facts: verify names, dates, amounts and references against the original.
3. Numbers: recalculate key totals yourself or in Excel.
4. Omissions: ask "what conditions or exceptions did you leave out?"
5. Audience: read it as the recipient would. Is the tone right? Is anything confidential to someone else?

3. Prompts that help you check

For each statement in your answer, quote the sentence from the source that supports it. If there is no supporting sentence, say so.

What are the weakest points or assumptions in this draft? List anything I should verify before sending.

Compare this summary against the original document and list anything material that is missing or changed.

4. Confidentiality basics

• Use your work account so enterprise data protection applies. Microsoft states prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train foundation models.
• Microsoft Copilot respects your permissions, but it can surface anything you can already access. If a folder is overshared, Microsoft Copilot makes that easier to find. Report oversharing to IT.
• Follow your organisation's AI policy and your regulator's guidance on client data.