Many people seem to think that AI will eventually replace roles like DBA or Database Engineer, but I disagree. Despite everyone being so invested in AI, I’ve been pretty skeptical about its capabilities. When AI suggests a MERGE statement as the best option, I can’t help but laugh and shake my fist at the screen. That’s just one area where I find it hard to agree—just like with ChatGPT writing developers’ code.
Last year at the PASS Summit, I attended a presentation on Copilot. The presenter used it to create an amusing picture of a monkey wearing a hat and holding a banana. I remember thinking, “Why in the world would anyone need pictures generated like that?” It seemed so odd at the time.
Fast forward a few months, and I found myself needing unique images for a presentation. Stock photos weren’t cutting it, and I remembered that quirky Copilot demo. I decided to give it a try, and to my surprise, it was incredibly useful! Now, I want to share with you how easy it is to use Copilot to create your own presentation pictures.
Just a heads-up for those who don’t know me: I have this weird obsession with growing zucchini, shared only by my husband. So, let’s dive into this blog post featuring an example presentation I’m preparing all about ZUCCHINIS! How exciting does that sound?
A Guide to Using Copilot
Visit Copilot Website: Visit Copilot’s website.
Create an Account
If you don’t already have one, sign up. It’s straightforward and quick. If you see something like the picture below, it’s because you need to log in.
Choose Your Option
When using Copilot, you can select between descriptive or creative options. Sometimes I prefer the precise option, especially when focusing on small yet important details.
Type in a Description
I like to start with a basic description first. Once you do that, press enter or the button in the bottom right corner.
Generate Picture
Once you submit the description, it will generate a picture. One thing I’ve observed is that it also incorporates past searches. I appreciate that it included my dog Maggie and Mango the kitty in my zucchini picture, although I’m not sure if they should be included in my presentation. Besides, who brings a business suit and laptop to the garden?
Add More Information
The reason I suggest starting with a basic search is that, in my experience, it’s easier to build on it with each subsequent search. For my next attempt, I’ll add more details about what I want included in the picture.
Add words
Once I added more details, it removed the irrelevant elements. Now, the picture is filled with a ton of zucchini. In some of my pictures, I add banners or words, but I’m going to show you why you should wait until the very end to do that.
Make It Real
Alright, now we’re getting somewhere! Look at that beautiful banner and all the zucchini. Notice how only one banner spells “growing” and “Zucchini” wrong? Three out of four isn’t bad. But wait… what if the point of growing zucchini was to give it to my neighbors?
Zucchini Drive-Offs
Okay, now the truth comes out. One year, we grew 50 different squash plants. We would do zucchini drive-offs. In Utah, it’s a term for when people leave a billion zucchini’s on someone’s porch and drive off. You leave them at work on coworkers’ desk. You even bring them as gifts instead of nice expensive wine. Let’s make this more real!
Perfect… Almost
Notice all the spelling errors? That’s why I recommend adding words last.
Downloading the Picture
If you want to download the picture, you can click on it and then click download like the picture below.
Fixing Spelling Errors
If this happens, I would ask in the description for the words to be spelled correctly. It usually works for me.
One Last Thing
Once you hit that 5 out of 5 tries it will make you start again. I am on the free version so that might be different on the paid version. You would need to click that button and start again.
Summary
I am sure that the paid version is much different from the free version. But I wanted to show you how much fun it can be to create pictures for your presentations. Although I do not think AI should be used to write your queries because they live in production, I think that AI Copilot has its place and it can be kind of fun. Just try it for yourself and let me know in the comments what you use Copilot for.
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