5 Ways AI Assistant ‘Windows Co-Pilot’ Makes Your Life Easier

Microsoft this week introduced “Windows Co-Pilot,” an AI-powered assistant that looks like it can handle almost any task in one place. Microsoft specifically showed Windows Co-Pilot replacing Bing Chat. But Windows CoPilot offers more than that. This is because it acts as a kind of concierge that supports everything you can do on your PC and apps.

Currently, Windows Co-Pilot is displayed as a sidebar on the right side of the screen. This is usually where Windows notifications are located. Additionally, while CoPilot is text-based, Microsoft has shown it can interact with photos and files as well.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella introduced the video below during his keynote, and Chief Product Officer Panos Panay replayed the video during his keynote speech. The following video briefly demonstrates Windows CoPilot’s capabilities, and Panay demonstrated it himself later in the talk.

Replacing ‘Bing Chat’

Microsoft’s AI chatbot ‘Bing Chat’ is already available on Windows. Windows Co-Pilot looks like a more sophisticated version than originally expected. The aforementioned video begins by claiming that Co-Pilot will provide answers to even complex questions like “help me plan a fishing trip.” That sounds like Bing Chat. Likewise, after copying several codes, Panay asked Windows CoPilot to interpret what they were and what they did. Again, this is also something Bing Chat can do.

As Panay demonstrated himself, he typed, “How can I tune the system for the job?” Copilot assumed Panay was referring to a Windows 11 system and provided an answer. Bing Chat on the web doesn’t make that assumption. This may mean that Co-Pilot searches local help files rather than the Internet. Why is this important?

Automated Setup Assistant

Windows Co-Pilot is, in effect, an acknowledgment that Windows is too complex for average users (who feel they are not making the most of Windows). In response to Panay’s question, the Windows co-pilot’s answer, “Control your Windows environment,” saves you the trouble of digging through menus and apps for specific tasks, such as activating dark mode or suggesting using windows to reduce eye strain. it reduces The advantage of co-pilot is here. Because suggestions like “adjust my settings so I can focus” require intelligent interpretation. In fact, when Panay asked CoPilot to tune the system for the job, CoPilot ran Windows 11’s Dark and Focus modes on its own.

Working with multiple documents

Windows Copilot features the AI-powered summarization and content creation capabilities of Microsoft Edge Copilot. That’s why I think Microsoft 365 CoPilot (AI for office apps) can be Microsoft’s killer AI app in terms of saving time to read and respond to information. Meanwhile, there’s no word yet that you’ll need a Microsoft 365 subscription to use the app, but a Microsoft account is expected.

run the app

During the demo, Panay asked Co-Pilot, “What music do you like to listen to while working?” Copilot opened Spotify and suggested three playlists. The next step after Bing Chat and ChatGPT is plug-ins and web browsing. Both are sources of information to supplement what you already know. On PC, a ‘plugin’ seems to be simply an app like Spotify. Afterwards, Panay asked Windows Co-Pilot, “How do I make a logo for the company?” Windows Co-Pilot not only promoted Adobe Express, but also launched an app. Then, the user even sent the logo created using the template to a colleague using Teams.

automated transcription

Transcription is a convenient feature that allows you to leave what someone said as text. Microsoft has been offering this feature to its business services (mainly Teams) for years, but now it looks like it’s coming to Windows as well. When Panay dragged the MP3 recording into the Windows CoPilot chat box (which in itself is interesting!), Windows CoPilot started generating the transcript.

What are the hardware requirements for Windows CoPilot?

How does Windows CoPilot actually work? Reminds me of Windows 11’s stringent hardware requirements and how it’s changed? AI art apps like Stable Diffusion can run on a local PC, but traditionally require a discrete GPU to run algorithms on, lots of video memory, and the code itself. It runs best on a laptop or desktop with storage to save it to.

→ TPM required for Windows 11 “Why isn’t it on my PC?”

A CPU with a dedicated AI block presents another problem. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx 3rd generation processor is equipped with Hexagon DSP for AI processing, and the AMD Ryzen 7040U and Ryzen AI Block Pack also have dedicated AI hardware. According to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, certain Intel 13th-generation Core chips feature Movidius AI cards, and Intel’s Meteor Lake is focused on AI capabilities. But all of these are just a fraction of the available PCs.

It’s unknown how Microsoft plans to address this imbalance, but there are a few hints. First, Microsoft released its machine learning API Windows ML a few years ago. However, it has disappeared from public view due to the lack of a killer app. Microsoft this week revealed that it is working with AMD, Intel and Nvidia to optimize Transformer and Diffusion models to enable AI to run locally on hardware. Nvidia’s latest game driver can double AI performance in apps like Stable Diffusion, and AMD will release AI-optimized drivers next month on its Radeon RX 7900 GPU and Ryzen 7040 CPU, Microsoft said.

Whether local hardware can keep up with the needs of Windows CoPilot and other AIs is still questionable. In addition, Microsoft can apply a technology called ‘Hybrid Loop’ in which the cloud and the PC work together. Microsoft VP Pavan Davuluri said Hybrid Loop makes Microsoft’s Azure cloud “look like a Windows coprocessor, like an NPU or GPU.” This allows your PC to process as much as possible using your local GPU or AI coprocessor, and if you can’t keep up, you can leverage the Azure cloud.

Even so, it’s still unresolved how Co-Pilot works on PC unless you have the latest hardware. After contacting Microsoft, a company representative replied that they had nothing official to share. Rest assured, though, that if Microsoft is willing to make Windows Co-Pilot part of the PC, it will have to address these issues. Of course, buying a more powerful PC might be the answer.
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