Microsoft is a company that has been late to many things, but its early bet on the artificial intelligence market continues to pay off. After offering tools like the Bing chatbot and an image generator, in Redmond they seem ready to jump to the next phase: Copilot. Unlike what we see in traditional plugins and other external tools, the Copilot demo presents a deep integration into Windows 11, to the point that it can modify operating system settings and run compatible applications.
Are we facing a new era of digital assistants, or will hype consume us? Solutions like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa seem obsolete compared to new chatbots, but it is clear that their background models must do much more than maintain a conversation. Microsoft’s idea is to offer a completely centralized AI assistance platform in Windows 11, and its official name is Windows Copilot. Announced by Panos Panay himself (CPO of Windows and Devices at Microsoft), here is the teaser of Copilot:
Windows Copilot, the new AI assistant for Windows 11
The keyword behind this presentation is "productivity". Microsoft suggests that users will be able to do much more in Windows with the help of Copilot, starting with customization of the operating system. Copilot will have the ability to modify the appearance of Windows 11 (e.g., enable dark mode), organize windows, and activate specific features like the focus clock.
Explain, summarize, and rewrite documents also appear as available functions in Copilot. All the user has to do is drag the document in question into the assistant (whether a PDF or another compatible format). However, the most impressive thing is its integration with local apps. In this demo, Copilot shares a brief list of playlists suggested by Spotify, and opens the application immediately. The second example uses Adobe Express to create a simple logo, followed by sending to a Teams session.
The development of plugins will be an essential step for the number of applications and services compatible with Copilot to grow, but Microsoft has decided to accelerate its pace. Copilot will be available as a preview starting in June.
Official announcement: Click here
