Editing Office Assistant (section)

== Description ==
The Office Assistant was an [[intelligent user interface]] for [[Microsoft Office]]. It assisted users by way of an interactive [[animated character]] that [[user interface|interfaced]] with the Office help content. It was included in [[Microsoft Office|Microsoft Office for Windows]] (versions 97 to 2003), in [[Microsoft Publisher]] and [[Microsoft Project]] (versions 98 to 2003), [[Microsoft FrontPage]] (versions 2002 and 2003), and [[Microsoft Office|Microsoft Office for Mac]] (versions 98 to 2004). The Office Assistant used technology initially from [[Microsoft Bob]] and later [[Microsoft Agent]], offering advice based on [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] algorithms.

The default assistant in the English version was named Clippit, after a paperclip.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Freeman |first=Jan |date=2007-02-25 |title=Finding the grammar checker's frailties |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/02/25/you_got_grammar/ |access-date=2007-02-25 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref name="designer">{{cite web |title=Clippy |url=http://oddisgood.com/pages/cd-clippy.html |access-date=2016-02-10 |website=Oddisgood.com |archive-date=2013-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109214703/http://oddisgood.com/pages/cd-clippy.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The character was designed by Kevan J. Atteberry.<ref name="designer3">{{cite web |title=Clippy |url=http://oddisgood.com/pages/cd-clippy.html |access-date=2016-02-10 |website=Oddisgood.com |archive-date=2013-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109214703/http://oddisgood.com/pages/cd-clippy.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cole |first=Samantha |date=April 26, 2017 |title=Clippy's Designer Wants to Know Who Got Clippy Pregnant |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/microsoft-clippy-creator-interview-kevin-atteberry/ |access-date=May 2, 2019 |work=Motherboard |language=en-us |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101051607/https://www.vice.com/en/article/xyj55a/microsoft-clippy-creator-interview-kevin-atteberry |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the name Clippit was used in all versions of Microsoft Office that supported the Office Assistant feature, the assistant became commonly referred to by the public as '''Clippy''', a name which later occasionally bled into Microsoft marketing materials.<ref name="dickinson" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Cassidy |first=Benjamin |date=23 August 2022 |title=The Twisted Life of Clippy |url=https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/08/origin-story-of-clippy-the-microsoft-office-assistant |work=Seattle Met}}</ref><ref name="xenon" /><ref name="futurism">{{cite web |author=Maggie Harrison |date=June 29, 2023 |title=Madman Brings Clippy Back as an AI |url=https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-clippy-back-ai |website=Futurism |quote=The former Microsoft Office mascot — technically named Clippit}}</ref> Clippit was by far the most notable (partly because in many cases the setup CD was required to install the other assistants), which also led to him being called simply the '''Microsoft Paperclip'''.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=2 June 2012 |title=The Microsoft Paperclip Is Back |url=https://www.newrisingmedia.com/blog/2012/6/2/the-microsoft-paperclip-is-back.html |access-date=2016-02-10 |website=Newrisingmedia.com |archive-date=2021-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185634/https://www.newrisingmedia.com/blog/2012/6/2/the-microsoft-paperclip-is-back.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Technology ===
The Office Assistant used technology initially from [[Microsoft Bob]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Watters |first1=Audrey |date=14 September 2016 |title=Clippy and the History of the Future of Educational Chatbots |url=http://hackeducation.com/2016/09/14/chatbot |access-date=2 June 2017 |website=Hacked Education |archive-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616041542/http://hackeducation.com/2016/09/14/chatbot |url-status=live }}</ref> and later [[Microsoft Agent]], offering advice based on [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] algorithms.<ref name="xenon">{{cite web |last1=Swartz |first1=Luke |title=Why People Hate the Paperclip: Labels, Appearance, Behavior and Social Responses to User Interface Agents |url=http://xenon.stanford.edu/~lswartz/paperclip/paperclip.pdf |access-date=2 June 2017 |quote=Popularly known as "Clippy the Paperclip" (the default character, referred to in Microsoft Office itself as "Clippit") |archive-date=12 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212191858/http://xenon.stanford.edu/~lswartz/paperclip/paperclip.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> From Microsoft Office 2000 onward, Microsoft Agent (.acs) replaced the Microsoft Bob-descended Actor (.act) format as the technology supporting the feature. Microsoft Agent-based characters have richer forms and colors, and are not enclosed within a boxed window. Furthermore, Microsoft Agent characters could use the [[Lernout & Hauspie]] TruVoice Text-to-Speech Engine to provide output speech capabilities, but it required SAPI 4.0. The Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine also allowed Microsoft Agent characters to accept speech input.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bell |first=Gordon Scott |title=Microsoft Agent Ring |url=http://msagentring.org/setup.aspx |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305173031/http://msagentring.org/setup.aspx |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |access-date=May 2, 2019 |website=msagentring.org}}</ref> This technology was also used for the [[File Explorer]]'s search companions in [[Windows XP]].