There was a click and then writing. Now is the time for voice and vision. While Windows 10 officially retires this week, Windows 11 delivers its annual batch of new fall features. And a central theme in the internal operating system (OS): artificial intelligence.
“It is the most transformative technology in our lives,” Navjot Virk tells us. For the head of Windows experiences, the operating system must serve to “democratize AI by making it intuitive and easily accessible to as many people as possible, not just technophiles.” As with every Windows 11 update, AI is packed with new features. Unless it’s the other way around. And during the announcements on October 16, it was Copilot Voice who was officially included. “A fundamental change in interaction with the computer,” promises Navjot Virk. And it will be available in French upon launch in the coming days.
Copilot voice to ask questions more naturally
After the mouse and keyboard, which for four decades were the essential tools for communicating with your computer, you can now use your voice as an input method. There were certainly attempts in the past with Cortana, one of the first voice assistants, but it was never able to reach its full potential.
In this way, the user will talk to his PC with AI, which can hear, understand and respond. With a simple “Hey Copilot!” You can start a discussion on any topic, from a request for explanations about a file to a cooking recipe for X people. The “Copilot” buttons, Voice buttons, or the Windows+C keys activate or end the function (or simply say “Goodbye” to Copilot). It is responsive, flexible and comprehensive in its responses to adapt to the user’s needs and capabilities.
Copilot Voice will be accompanied by Copilot Vision. And this time it is the computer that, with your authorization, will help you “by seeing what you see and helping you in your work or in your daily life,” explains the head of Windows. A completely new way to get help on your PC, because Copilot Vision is screen-based (full screen or just window, you decide) to give you guided support in your workflow, in a more contextual, also proactive way, and make the user’s task easier.
This can range from arranging documents on the screen to giving the AI advice on how to get started with slightly more complicated software. Copilot can show you where to click, fix a video project, or enhance your photo. A version of Copilot that also comes to video games and in particular to the new ROG Xbox Ally consoles that will have Copilot to be able to get help or advice directly from a game. “Copilot Vision is like having someone by your side, an expert who helps and guides you at any time,” underlines Navjot Virk, who hopes to see more and more adopters of internal AI with more natural and less intimidating functions.
Productivity, fluidity and democratization
Talking to the computer must first of all be something instinctive. Show you documents so you can help us, extremely intuitive. But it is also in the exchange with Copilot where the American company increasingly simplifies the language. Describing a complex task without having to write a long message is Microsoft’s goal. The voice is, therefore, your best ally, especially for real multitasking (requesting Copilot while cooking, for example) and for virtual multitasking (moving from one element to another in the same conversation to interrupt and complete). It is then intended that conversational interaction is easier than writing.
Also easier to use. Copilot Vision can understand an entire file and not just what is seen on the screen to strengthen its understanding and analysis. If the Windows 11 update rolls out on October 16, Microsoft already has the next step in mind. “We learned that we had to gradually roll out our new features, take the time to explain future usage, and not drown less experienced users under an avalanche of new features. Therefore, we gradually rolled out the following into Windows Insider (Windows beta tester program, editor’s note),” explains Navjot Virk.
Upcoming features will make using AI on a Windows PC even more natural. First, with “Ask Copilot” it will take its place on the taskbar and be more prominent, with quick access to Copilot Voice and Vision. The results are instantaneous, the center is more modern and interactive. It seems that these two new features find a logical place to be useful. “We don’t want to create new habits, but rather make Copilot fluid and ubiquitous in existing uses,” says Marcus Ash, head of Windows design and research.
Make AI engaging, intuitive and reassuring
The whole thinking revolves around this desire to make everything natural to use. And future features will also include Copilot Actions, the freedom to let Copilot act on the user’s behalf to reorganize folders or photos, rename files, extract information from a PDF, send an email, make a reservation, etc. Anything that might “seem like boring, menial tasks” would be carried out by AI agents.
Microsoft also wants to go beyond its simple platform and its favorite services thanks to future connectors that will allow linking, in addition to the usual internal services (Onedrive, Outlook, Word, etc.) and Google accounts (Gmail, Dirve, Contacts, Calendar) to help Copilot “search and reason better about its contents to be an even better assistant,” explains Marcus Ash. Other services and applications will be added over time.
Be productive, no longer be afraid of not knowing how to do or find, just ask: Microsoft continues in its desire to democratize AI on Windows PCs. AI should be there to help, not stop, the two Microsoft experts declare in unison. For this reason, speaking seems to some to be more natural and less distressing than the fear of typing incorrectly or clicking in the wrong place. From now on it will be enough to say what comes to mind or show. “Copilot can figure out what you want to say, read your mind in a way,” laughs Marcus Ash.
If these new features are designed to make life easier, they will all be done with mandatory user approval and always secure, Microsoft says. “We want to tread carefully, learn, and make sure users feel in control,” he adds. In control and security, two sine qua none conditions for AI to be useful, attractive and, above all, reassuring.
Source: BFM TV
