Use Copilot in Word to find where a long model document describes an input

What This Does

A methodology document can run to dozens of pages, and the question you have is narrow: where does it describe this input, this step or this assumption? Copilot in Word can summarize a document and answer questions about it. Use it as a map to find the section, then read the section yourself.

Before You Start

• You have Word for Microsoft 365 open on the document. Microsoft's page applies to Word for Microsoft 365, including the Mac and iPad versions.
• Copilot is part of your license. Microsoft's page says Copilot may be missing if it is not included with your subscription or if your organization's settings turn it off. Ask IT which license you have if you do not see the Copilot button in the corner of the document.
• Your company allows this document in Copilot. Model documentation often describes unreleased methods and company data. That depends on the company's AI policy and the tool it approved. If you are unsure, practice on a document you wrote with invented content, such as a two-page description of an invented model called M-3.
• The document holds no policyholder or claimant details. Model documentation usually does not, but appendices with sample records sometimes do.

Steps

1. Open Copilot

Open the document. Then select the Copilot Dynamic Action Button in the corner of the document. Microsoft's page says Copilot opens in the chat pane with Edit mode turned on. Select Chat only so Copilot answers in the pane and makes no changes to the document. The page describes that option for questions about a document.

2. Get a map first

Ask for a summary and a list of open questions before you search for details. The page says you can ask for a summary, key takeaways, open questions and action items.

Summarize this document in eight bullets, one per major section.
List any open questions or items the document says are still to be decided.

3. Ask where an input or assumption is described

Ask narrow questions. Use the words your team uses.

Where does this document describe how the lapse input is applied in the projection?
Which section explains the order of the calculation steps?
Does the document say who approved the last change to the input?

The page does not say whether Copilot's answers link back to passages in the document, so do not count on it. Ask Copilot to name the heading or section title. Then find that heading yourself and read it.

4. Read each passage and compare with the model

Open the section Copilot points to and read it in full. Copilot can miss a passage, merge two sections or read a table wrongly. Also remember the document may be older than the model. If the passage and the model disagree, trust neither until you ask the model owner. Record what you found in your own notes, with the section title and the version of the document.

Real Example

Scenario: A new reviewer asks how an input called Input X is applied in invented Model M-3. The methodology document for M-3 is long and you have not read the middle chapters.

What you type: "Where does this document describe how Input X is applied in the projection? Name the heading."

What you get: A short answer naming a section called something like "Projection Steps" and a one-line description of it. You open that heading and read it. Two things can happen. The section matches what you see in the model, and you note the heading and version in your reply. Or the section describes an older step order than the model uses, and you tell the model owner the document needs an update. In both cases the reading was yours. Copilot saved the search.

Tips

• Write questions that have a findable answer in the document. "Where is X described?" works better than "Is X right?" because only the reviewing actuary and the model owner can say what is right.
• Ask Copilot for headings, not for quotations. Then read the real text and copy anything you cite from the document itself.
• Type / in the chat pane to reference another document, email or meeting, as the page describes. Do that only for items your AI policy lets you combine.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar Copilot or chat options in the same menu area.