Microsoft wants us talking to Windows 11 with new AI features

Microsoft is trying to get people to talk to their computers, betting that voice and artificial intelligence software is powerful enough to make such interactions as effective as a keyboard or mouse.

The world’s largest software maker on Thursday (Oct 16) introduced a set of updates to its Windows operating system, including the ability to summon Microsoft’s Copilot assistant by saying “Hey, Copilot.”

In addition to a mouse and keyboard, voice “will now become the third input mechanism,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer marketing chief, said on a call with reporters.

The updates, which will start arriving for Windows 11 PCs this week, also include a broader rollout of a tool called Copilot Vision that lets the software see what’s on a user’s desktop or in a specific application, to troubleshoot or prompt the software to suggest ideas for a design project.

Windows powers most of the world’s desktop and laptop computers, but its relevance has faded the last decade as people spend more of their time on smartphones. Microsoft is rewriting its operating system around artificial intelligence, Mehdi said, part of a broader bet that such tools will make Windows more capable.

Other AI features, set to be released to users who opt in for an early look at experimental software, include embedding Copilot in the Windows search bar, allowing the assistant to sort files, and letting Copilot pull information from email inboxes or calendar listings.

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The updates announced on Thursday will eventually arrive on all Windows 11 PCs, not just the subset of high-end machines with an AI processor that Microsoft markets as Copilot + PCs. Many of the features require users to opt in, Microsoft said.

Microsoft’s voice push is actually a throwback. Long before Windows users could say “Hey, Copilot,” they could say “Hey, Cortana,” when Microsoft was developing that voice assistant in the early days of Windows 10 a decade ago. That effort flopped, partly because the software’s responses were limited to a narrow set of requests, asked in a particular way. Many users, meanwhile, found it awkward to speak aloud to a computer, particularly in workplace settings.

The Redmond, Washington-based company earlier this week ended support for Windows 10. Cybersecurity firms and public interest groups warned that millions of users were being left behind with still-functional computers that didn’t meet the minimum hardware requirements to update to Windows 11. BLOOMBERG