Hello everyone.
This time, we'll talk about creating a Power Apps app by talking to AI. The title "Copilot" is the name of Microsoft's AI service, and the combination of Power Apps and AI is provided by a service called "Maker Copilot."

It can be used in Japanese too!

Maker Copilot (Copilot for Power Apps) has been available in preview since around June 2023, but there were many prerequisites, such as the environment (US) and language (English). Since it became available in the Japanese environment and in Japanese in February 6, I decided to cover it in this blog.

reference:Building new apps and tables with Maker Copilot is now available in 8 languages worldwide

Prerequisites and Recommendations

To use AI features in Power Apps, you must have the following prerequisites:

1. Environment where Dataverse database exists
-> Roughly speaking, it is an environment with a license that allows you to create model-driven apps and Dynamics 365 apps.
2. Environment where Copilot functionality is enabled
-> To enable Copilot in a Dataverse environment in the "Japan" region, you need to change the environment settings in the Power Platform Admin Center. Specifically, you need to agree to "Inter-region data movement." This is because Dynamics 365 is running in "Japan" and Copilot is running in "US," and data needs to be sent and received between the regions.

Reference　Enabling Copilot and Generative AI Capabilities - Power Platform | Microsoft Learn
This operation requires Global Administrator or PowerPlatform Administrator user privileges. If you don't have an environment to try it out or don't want to go through the trouble of setting one up, we recommend obtaining a developer environment or trial environment. The steps for obtaining a trial environment are explained in the article below.
How to Obtain a Dynamics 365 Trial (August 2023 Edition) - Arcus Japan Inc. - CRM Leading Company (arcuss-japan.com)

Let's create an app

Now, let's create an app. If you have met the prerequisites, you will see the Maker Copilot input field on the home screen of the Power Apps homepage (make.powerapps.com).

This time, we will create an "Inspection Management" app from pre-prepared options.

1. Select [Manage Inspections] at the top of the screen. Of course, you can try entering text directly or using different words. The more specific your request is here, the closer the app will be to what you want.

2. Make sure that [Manage Inspections] is entered in the input field and select [Submit] (paper airplane icon).

3. A Dataverse table will be created based on the text you entered. It will also create sample data to match the column items. The sample data includes "blood test" and "X-ray," so it seems Copilot was thinking of medical tests. Of course, if you provide specific instructions such as "what test" and "what items are required," a table closer to your desired size will be created. Personally, I have the impression that better results can be obtained in a shorter amount of time by providing a use case (5W1H) such as "who, what, and how" rather than detailed specifications (item definitions).

4. Edit the table. Enter your changes in Japanese in the lower right corner of the screen and click [Submit]. Recommended example sentences are displayed in the lower left corner of the screen. *You can also edit directly without using Copilot by selecting the pencil icon in each section.

For example, try entering the following sentence:

- Add a column for notes
-Add "retest required" to the options in the result column
・Add 10 sample data
Let's try entering:

5. Once you have finished editing the table, click [Create app] at the bottom right of the screen.

6. After a while, the app designer screen will open and you will see the app created by the AI.

7. Once you save and publish the app, it will be ready to use.

What Copilot can't do (at this time)

I actually tried it out and listed below the things I couldn't request from Copilot as of February 2024, along with example sentences. I've also included other ways to do it. This may be improved in future updates.

 a. The data source is only Dataverse tables
× "Create an app using SharePoint as a data source"
->Use the "Create from data" method, such as an Excel file or SharePoint.

 b. Only one table can be used, which is created at the same time as the app.

× "Create an app to manage quotes and quote details"
× "Create an app to manage existing account tables"
->Here too, use the "Create from data" method.

c. The app created will only be a single-screen canvas app (tablet size).
× "Create a model-driven app to manage ____"
->Create a model-driven app based on the tables created in Copilot.

× "Create a mobile app to input ____"
->Edit apps created with Copilot yourself.

d. Ask Copilot to edit the created app (you can do this in English)

× "Add a button"
× "Change the label value to XX"
-> In fact, there is a feature that allows you to ask Copilot to not only create apps but also edit them. At the moment, this is a preview feature and is not displayed in Japanese environments, but you can display it by switching the language setting to "English" using the gear in the upper right corner of the screen.

Conclusion

What did you think? I felt that this was a convenient feature that allowed me to create a working app in as little as five minutes, in response to requests such as "I just want to create and use an app" or "I want to create a demo app in a short amount of time."
If there are any further updates, I will write another article.