Microsoft Integrating AI ‘Personal Assistant’ Into Windows 11

A phone is seen in front of a Microsoft logo displayed in this illustration taken on July 26, 2021. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

Microsoft is adding its centralized AI-assisted feature Copilot to Windows 11, the company announced on May 22.

In a blog post, Panos Panay, Microsoft’s chief product officer, said the new chatbot—which like Chat GPT-4 is powered by artificial intelligence that uses large language models (LLMs)—will help assist users to complete complex tasks.

Such tasks will be performed in conjunction with Bing Chat, and include summarizing or explaining content that users are viewing and providing information.

Copilot will be integrated directly into Windows 11, and “familiar and easy” to use, with customers simply opening the feature via a button in the taskbar across all apps, programs, and windows, according to Panay.

“Once open, the Windows Copilot sidebar stays consistent across your apps, programs, and windows, always available to act as your personal assistant,” Panay explained.

“It makes every user a power user, helping you take action, customize your settings and seamlessly connect across your favorite apps,” he added.

Along with summarizing content, Copilot will also answer simple and complex questions, such as the time in another time zone, and search for flights and accommodations.

“AI is going to be the single largest driver of innovation for Windows in the years to come,” Panay said in an interview with Engadget Tuesday. “It’s going to change the way you work, change your interaction models to make it easier. It’s going to understand so much about what you need.”

Windows Copilot will be available to preview in June, according to Microsoft.

Open AI Execs Warn of Superintelligence

Microsoft has already invested $13 billion in OpenAI, the San Francisco-based business behind ChatGPT; the chatbot that has raised concerns due to privacy issues and misuse, particularly with regard to plagiarism in education.

In a blog post published on May 22, Open AI executives including CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that AI poses other threats too, including that it will likely exceed human “expert skill level” across most domains within the next 10 years, rendering hundreds of thousands without a job.

They also noted that superintelligence—AI that possesses intelligence that far surpasses the brightest human minds—could become the most powerful technology that “humanity has had to contend with.”

“We can have a dramatically more prosperous future but we have to manage risk to get there. Given the possibility of existential risk, we can’t just be reactive,” Altman and other executives noted.

However, the executives said they ultimately believe that with the correct approach to advancing technology, AI could create tremendous value in the world.

The latest announcement from Microsoft comes just days after co-founder Bill Gates said personal AI agents could drastically impact the way consumers shop and search online.

Speaking at the AI Forward 2023 event in San Francisco on May 22, Gates said AI developers are currently racing to develop a personal AI agent that could perform everyday tasks for users, including reading and conducting online searches.

“Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” Gates said.

Gates also noted that he would be “disappointed” if Microsoft wasn’t among the developers to create an AI assistant but said he believes there’s a 50 percent chance the technology will be made by either a startup or a tech giant.