The annual Build 2023 developer conference has kicked off, and this year’s conference will be largely dedicated to introducing artificial intelligence into Microsoft products. Not surprisingly, the company first announced an AI-powered Copilot tool for the Windows 11 operating system.
The Windows Copilot feature will be able to analyze content on your computer screen to suggest any contextual actions depending on what you’re currently working on. Copilot is designed as a sidebar, triggered by a button on the taskbar. The sidebar can be attached to the left or right edge of the screen, so you can choose your preferred option. There’s also a chat interface for more natural communication with artificial intelligence.
“Windows is the first PC platform to provide users with centralized help using artificial intelligence,” said Windows + Devices team head Panos Panay. “With the Bing chatbot and plug-ins from Microsoft and third-party developers, you can focus on bringing your ideas to life, completing complex projects and working together instead of wasting energy searching, launching and working across multiple applications.”
Microsoft claims that Copilot works as a “personal assistant” for everything Windows-related and effectively replaces Cortana. You can ask the function to change system settings, open applications, analyze text and images, check for updates and more. This tool will turn anyone into an experienced Windows user.
Windows Copilot is based on the same technologies as the Bing chatbot, which means that it will be able to search for information on the web. Support for Bing Chat and ChatGPT plugins is also announced, which makes Windows Copilot a very flexible and extensible platform.
Windows Insider members will be able to evaluate Windows Copilot in June. It is possible that the feature will appear in Windows 11 release builds in the fall, along with the release of update 23H2.
