Copilot, Windows 11’s AI-powered assistant arrives in public preview

After integrating OpenAI’s generative AI into Bing and Edge, Microsoft announced a month ago that a chatbot would be implemented in Windows 11. The assistant called Copilot is now making its first steps among free subscribers to the Windows program. After installing the Build 23493 update, it is possible to activate the Copilot assistant by combining the Windows and C keys on the keyboard. The pilot unit is then displayed on the right side of the screen.

The tool will be associated with a Microsoft user account and unlike Cortana, it will be hard to ignore, as Microsoft has sought to make it ubiquitous in the system. As with Bing Chat, the chatbot will offer three conversation styles. The user will have a choice between simple response modes based on proven facts, or a more creative atmosphere with more originality but also the risk of “hallucinations” of artificial intelligence.

Targeted advertising in co-pilot

Copilot will also integrate OpenAI’s Dall-e Text 2 image generator, which is already in the muscular version, but also restricted to Bing Image Creator. In the future, Copilot can also be used to request settings in Windows 11 in natural language. He will also know how to carry out certain commands that would otherwise require technical skills. Thus, it is possible to ask it to switch to the dark display mode, or to take a screenshot, for example. Microsoft explained on his blog page The co-pilot will be enriched with the addition of new functions.

The non-philanthropic company, like Bing, will add targeted ad content from Copilot’s launch. With the update that integrates the Copilot preview, Microsoft has also improved the settings page to make it easier to use and more practical. It also adds native support for compressed archive formats other than Zip. We can thus open Tar, RAR, 7-Zip and other exotic format files.