Windows 11’s AI Copilot Could Be a Game Changer but Still Has Issues

In May, Microsoft announced it would soon ramp up the use of AI in Windows 11. Instead of just using the ChatGPT-based chatbot for Bing and Edge, Microsoft would transform it into a full-fledged digital assistant for the entire OS. This is what Cortana and even Clippy in Word were supposed to do, though we all know how they worked out.

The new assistant, dubbed Copilot, will be capable of handling a much wider range of tasks—hopefully with a lot more accuracy than previous versions. The new feature will be rolling out soon to Insiders, and now testers have gotten an early look at it. The preliminary tests are intriguing but show it has some room for improvement.

Microsoft announced it was bringing Copilot to Windows 11 at its recent Build conference. It will allow people who don’t use Edge or Bing search to take ChatGPT out for a test drive, albeit with hooks into the operating system. For example, you can use it to manage practically any setting in the OS. Windows Latest took it for a spin and tried typing “turn on dark mode” as an example of how it can be a system-wide shortcut tool. Although the bot successfully located “Enable dark mode?” as an option, when the user verified the action, it replied, “Sorry, I can’t do that right now. Try asking again later.” Yes, we know this is reminiscent of a certain past AI that became rebellious.

Credit: Microsoft

Windows Latest says Copilot can be used to change “practically any critical setting in the OS,” but it doesn’t say which settings are not accessible by the bot. We can guarantee that on day one, people will be saying, “Open the registry,” and seeing how where the guardrails are. In addition to changing Windows settings like enabling Do Not Disturb, you can also have it open applications if you don’t feel like searching or clicking. The site says it’s better than Windows 11’s integrated search at these tasks, which we find believable since it’s always been profoundly dumb when finding apps.

Copilot also knows what apps you are using and can assist certain Microsoft programs, such as those in Office. For example, if you have Outlook open, it can help you write an email, or if you’re looking at a long Word document, it can summarize it. These types of actions could be game-changing when it comes to getting tangible benefits from the bot, but as always, we’ll have to see how accurate the assistance is when it arrives. Microsoft has notably built a disclaimer directly into the pop-out Copilot window, warning people about trusting its results without question.

Easily the most intriguing feature of Copilot is it will support plug-ins made for ChatGPT. Microsoft will even have its own store for them, like how we search for browser extensions currently. This will allow Copilot to work with third-party apps and could be a huge boon to its utility. Since Copilot uses the Edge browser’s rendering engine, development shouldn’t be difficult despite the novelty of AI plug-ins. Copilot also uses the web to retrieve information, so an internet connection is required for search. However, you should still be able to tweak your OS even when offline because it’s built into Windows 11.

Copilot will begin rolling out to Insiders in the coming weeks, so we’ll get reports on how it functions soon. After that, a public rollout will be expected later this year, as this feature will be coming to all Windows 11 machines. Windows 11 has proven controversial, but this seems like a big step in the right direction—especially if it can understand complex requests like “overclock my CPU to 6GHz.”