Artificial intelligence may finally make Windows 11 usable

The single “Windows” button found on most modern keyboards is an old joke that has turned boring. The switch is a lonely barren island nestled between “alt” and “ctrl” that has long proven more of a nuisance to the errant finger veering slightly to the southwest than a usable function. While some may find the key good for accessing the Start menu, it's emblematic of what Microsoft has done Failed to make the Windows user interface comprehensive For most users. Now, Microsoft and PC makers will start asking a new question: Would you want to press an AI-powered “Copilot” alt-key if it actually made the Windows interface functional?

Microsoft GPT-4 co-pilot The advantage is It is still emerging on computers. This “preview” version can be accessed through a file Keyboard shortcut for computers running Windows 11 version 23H2. In essence, it's a Little cheat button You can use them to change wallpapers or adjust user settings. If this sounds exactly like many other well-hidden features on Windows, imagine what it would be like if they took over The prominent place previously occupied by Cortana.

Copilot AI can make accessing Windows settings easy

Earlier this month, Dell showed Gizmodo that its Copilot AI-powered Windows PC could provide an effective way for Microsoft to ditch UI design and eventually make its operating system more accessible. Imagine if every Windows computer came with a little “Copilot” button on the Windows taskbar. Users can speak or type in the pop-up interface, asking them, for example, to bring up trackpad brightness controls instead of clicking through endless menus for the same option. Maybe you don't remember how to find out which graphics driver your computer is running. Instead of Googling the answer or searching the Byzantine Windows UI looking for the right settings page, Copilot will simply show you that specific control panel.

Dell's concept demo was just a rough impression of the changes Microsoft could finally unveil, but it indicates where the PC maker sees things going based on its connections with its Windows parent company. Dell has yet to reveal its lineup of PCs or laptops for next year, but in the demo, the company placed a sticker over the right “Alt” key to show how future keyboards could make use of the “Copilot” button.

What may be more of a historic change for Windows is how Copilot can adjust your settings automatically, without you even asking it to. Dell showed us how after connecting to a public wifi network, Copilot automatically changes your security settings and automatically turns on the battery saver. Likewise, on-device AI can detect if your software keeps crashing on startup, and instead of asking you to file a crash report that goes nowhere, Copilot can initiate some simple fixes—such as closing your Internet browser— Which may solve the problem. The Dell version of Copilot allows you to undo these changes through a pop-up menu and ask it to stop making these changes on its own.

Depending on how persistent Copilot is, these automatic changes can become particularly annoying, but the feature appears to be designed specifically for users who have no idea what's in their security settings or The risky nature of public wifi. On the one hand, it's a way for Microsoft to finally give access to PC controls that most users likely have no idea about, like performance settings or camera improvements. On the other hand, this is an excuse for Microsoft to abandon the creation of an accessible operating system. Either way, the result will be a more automated Windows experience than ever before.

Copilot AI could be the first use case for personal computers with artificial intelligence

Earlier this month, Intel shared how its new chip gave rise to “AI personal computers.” The latest Meteor Lake mobile chipset will come with an integrated NPU, which is a neural processing unit that aims to take AI-intensive tasks from the GPU. fair enough. But so far, neither Intel nor any other computer maker has provided a concrete idea of ​​the types of AI-intensive tasks we'll rely on in the near future. Similarly, Qualcomm's latest chipset also promises big wins in AI With the latest chip update.

Sure, some will think about how AI can help them create fast backbeats for their music Derivative, soulless compositions, but so far these NPUs are making it easier to blur the background on Zoom. If we ignore the AI ​​hype machine first given by ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, we still have a real use case to sell the end user on AI for how most people use a computer.

Until now, Copilot has been mostly described as a text generation engine, used to draft routine emails or fill out spreadsheets. But even though AI is notorious for constantly writing accurate text or pretending to be human in ways as well Pretty damn creepyIt may be more effective as an alternative to Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. Eventually, big tech companies will redesign Android, iOS, and Windows to work with AI first.

Microsoft may already be moving in this direction. On Tuesday, the Redmond tech giant silently rolled out an Android app version of Microsoft Copilot, which in itself is just Bing chat without the search. It has images and interpretation DALL-E 3 AI image generator Fusion. In other words, it's another free clone of ChatGPT, but with free GPT-4 responses compared to the OpenAI implementation that requires you to pay for this larger language model. Based on unnamed sources, Windows Latest mentioned Microsoft may launch an iOS version of Copilot soon.

Microsoft has a tendency to create private keys for its own products. The Windows key has been around since 1994, and despite routine jokes about it, keyboard makers keep putting it on new boards. several years ago, Microsoft tried to promote a custom Office key That would replace the right “alt” button. This was before Office was renamed Microsoft 365, and would provide a way to quickly launch Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.

Those Office key prototypes were quickly forgotten, and it's pretty clear why. You don't need one button to access just one app. The same applies to the long-outdated Windows key. But if AI proves to be a shortcut to a better end-user experience, this could be the first time Microsoft has opened up about a real improvement to its user interface in years.

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