Microsoft is bringing generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to personal computers by incorporating its AI assistant, Copilot, into Windows 11 to help users easily take action and get things done.
Copilot on Windows 11
The new feature termed ‘Windows Copilot, which was revealed during the Build Conference for developers, is built to provide customers with easy access to an AI-powered bot from the Windows taskbar without requiring them to open a separate software.
“We are bringing the Copilot to the biggest canvas of all: Windows,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the opening of Build. “This is going to make every user a power user of Windows.”
In a blog post announcing the Windows Copilot, Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer, Windows, and Devices explained:
“Invoking Windows Copilot is familiar and easy – the button is front and center on your taskbar – simple to find and use. Once open, the Windows Copilot sidebar stays consistent across your apps, programs, and windows, always available to act as your personal assistant.”
Introducing Windows Copilot: the first PC platform to centralize AI assistance. #MSBuild pic.twitter.com/kujctI9Tm3
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) May 23, 2023
Through this assistant, users will be able to perform a variety of tasks ranging from looking up quick facts and information to performing more difficult ones.
Panay said the Windows Copilot will also rewrite, summarize, or even explain the content users are currently viewing on various apps adding
“The things you love about Windows – copy/paste, Snap Assist, Snipping Tool, personalization – they are all right there for you, along with every other feature on the platform, and they only get better with Windows Copilot.”
Additionally, Windows Copilot will be able to perform some functions similar to Bing Chat‘s such as answering both simple and complex questions and even looking for flights, accommodations, for other places across the globe.
In addition to some Bing Chat’s functionalities, users can also ask Copilot to “adjust the brightness of my screen for better focus” or do other operations on the PC. The basic Bing Chat link Microsoft provided to the taskbar earlier this year is much less comprehensive than this.
Due to the fact that Windows Copilot is built on the same principles as Bing Chat, Microsoft is also allowing programmers to add plug-ins created for Bing or OpenAI’s ChatGPT to this AI-powered assistant.
This will enable developers to add a ton of new features to ChatGPT and Bing while allowing changes made to ChatGPT and Bing to be instantly transferred and made visible on Windows Copilot.
Microsoft Creates an AI Ecosystem
Microsoft, a multibillion-dollar investor in OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, has been introducing generative AI into its products since it invested $10 billion in the AI company in January.
The company began hinting at the integration of AI into its operating system during AMD’s CES 2023 press conference when Panay said,”AI is going to reinvent how you do everything on Windows.”
In February, Microsoft began adding AI features into its product suite starting with the search engine Bing and the browser Edge. This partly helped Bing surpass the 100 million daily user mark.
The company has since laced its products with AI capabilities and despite the huge collaboration, Nadella stated in an interview with The Seattle Times that Microsoft doesn’t have authority over OpenAI.
At the Build Conference, the tech giant also introduced a new Hybrid AI loop to support AI development across platforms, and across Azure to clients with new silicon support from AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and Qualcomm in addition to new AI features and experiences in the Microsoft Store on Windows.
For developers, Microsoft introduced Dev Home, a productivity companion which makes it easy for programmers to connect to GitHub and set up their machines to code and making it easier to install the tools and packages they need.