AI Comes to Windows with Windows Copilot

Microsoft is making the most of OpenAI and ChatGPT. After seeing the GPT model almost everywhere in the company’s products – from Azure and Edge to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office), it’s time for the crown jewel: Windows.

At its annual Build 2023 development conference, Microsoft recently unveiled a new AI assistant called Windows Copilot for Windows 11. As you may recall, the Copilot branding, which began with GitHub Copilot, has become the name the company gives to all its smart AI-based helper tools, such as LLM models like GPT3.5 and GPT4, which are integrated into its various products.

Like Copilot products in other Microsoft applications, Windows Copilot will be embedded directly in the operating system and will be available directly from the taskbar in all applications. Thus, Windows Copilot can remain active and available even if you switch between different applications. It can summarize, rewrite, and explain content displayed by various Windows applications, as well as answer general questions. Technically, it can operate within any application or game you run on Windows.

Microsoft describes Windows Copilot as a “personal assistant” at the operating system level, so you can, for example, write in natural language “lower the screen brightness”, “transfer Windows audio from speakers to headphones” and other shortcuts. On stage, Microsoft demonstrated how a programmer asks the Windows Copilot button for advice on how to be more productive. The model suggests he switch to focus mode for 30 minutes, switch to dark mode, and listen to a playlist suitable for programming. The twist was that the programmer implemented the recommendations simply by clicking on them, which changed the system settings, activated the Spotify application on the appropriate playlist, and more.

By the way, the veterans among us remember that Cortana, the company’s failed personal assistant (at least in terms of adoption and use), was also supposed to enable similar features, but behind it did not stand a giant language model and impressive capabilities like ChatGPT.

The new feature is expected to reach Windows Insider beta testers in the coming weeks and then to other users.

Microsoft is making the most of OpenAI and ChatGPT. After seeing the GPT model almost everywhere in the company’s products – from Azure and Edge to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office), it’s time for the crown jewel: Windows.

At its annual Build 2023 development conference, Microsoft recently unveiled a new AI assistant called Windows Copilot for Windows 11. As you may recall, the Copilot branding, which began with GitHub Copilot, has become the name the company gives to all its smart AI-based helper tools, such as LLM models like GPT3.5 and GPT4, which are integrated into its various products.

Like Copilot products in other Microsoft applications, Windows Copilot will be embedded directly in the operating system and will be available directly from the taskbar in all applications. Thus, Windows Copilot can remain active and available even if you switch between different applications. It can summarize, rewrite, and explain content displayed by various Windows applications, as well as answer general questions. Technically, it can operate within any application or game you run on Windows.

Microsoft describes Windows Copilot as a “personal assistant” at the operating system level, so you can, for example, write in natural language “lower the screen brightness”, “transfer Windows audio from speakers to headphones” and other shortcuts. On stage, Microsoft demonstrated how a programmer asks the Windows Copilot button for advice on how to be more productive. The model suggests he switch to focus mode for 30 minutes, switch to dark mode, and listen to a playlist suitable for programming. The twist was that the programmer implemented the recommendations simply by clicking on them, which changed the system settings, activated the Spotify application on the appropriate playlist, and more.

By the way, the veterans among us remember that Cortana, the company’s failed personal assistant (at least in terms of adoption and use), was also supposed to enable similar features, but behind it did not stand a giant language model and impressive capabilities like ChatGPT.

The new feature is expected to reach Windows Insider beta testers in the coming weeks and then to other users.