Microsoft will release its next big Windows 11 update on September 26th. The update will include the new AI-powered Windows Copilot feature, a redesigned File Explorer, a new Ink Anywhere feature for pen users, big improvements to the Paint app, and much more.
Windows Copilot is the headline feature for the Windows 11 23H2 update, bringing the same Bing Chat feature straight to the Windows 11 desktop. It appears as a sidebar in Windows 11, allowing you to control settings on a PC, launch apps, or simply answer queries. It’s integrated all over the operating system, too: Microsoft executives demoed using Copilot to write text messages using data from your calendar, navigation options in Outlook, and more.
Copilot feels like Clippy 3.0 – yes, 3.0, if you know your Microsoft history – and I have zero interest in any of it. I don’t want to be second-guessed or receive “helpful” advice from a glorified autocomplete that’s hogging both bandwith and CPU cycles that I’d much rather put to use somewhere else. I’m absolutely baffled by this weird obsession Microsoft has to shove “AI” into every nook and cranny of their products.
Am I just out of touch? If this what Windows users want?
It is of course, all about letting them and their algorithms get to know you better. They like this because they can more effectively target advertisements, governments love it because, the more information that is collected about people by these companies, the better. Remember the Snowden leaks, and consider that over time, more and more of their analysts will be replaced with automation, as with most things today.
The only real use for “AI” that I personally have, and the only one that has really impressed me, is Intel OpenImageDenoise. It gives you cleaner renders in 250 samples than you would get in 1000 samples without a denoiser. Also, and this is a BIG one, it runs entirely offline and doesn’t send any information about me anywhere.
The only trustworthy “AI” is something that runs locally, that is open source, that I control, and that I have the ability to disable, audit, or modify if I wish.
kbd,
I agree with you about the merit of locally controlled software, but this isn’t the way our industry is evolving. Companies are pushing technology that has more tracking, is more dependent on their data centers, and they have more control over our hardware and data than ever before. You and I can protest this, but long term I’m not so sure it will matter if we’re drowned out by the masses who just play along, right into the hands of corporate control.
Yes just the other day I was thinking that before long, we will see cases where these companies are caught quietly exfiltrating the user’s personal files even when the user opts out, just as they continue to follow you around in both cyber-space and meat-space, even when you’ve opted out.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/14/california-hits-google-for-93m-over-deceptive-location-data-options/
Silicon valley has a “No” problem, and I have a trust problem. They don’t take no for an answer, and thus I don’t trust them one bit. Their dialog boxes that have a choice between “Yes” and “maybe later” aren’t helping their case either.
I had an idea for a t-shirt with a computer-style dialog box printed on it that says “Will you go out with me?” And below it, there are two buttons for the user to click, “Yes”, and “Not now”. But I wonder if the average Joe would get the joke; that almost all corporate software is designed this way today and they quite literally frequently don’t let you say “No!” to things you don’t want.
kbd,
Thanks for the link, I hadn’t read that news. I remember back in 2018 when google’s non-consensual location tracking was initially reported I thought “damn, they got me too”.
Even if google had obeyed the user’s selection, it was still an anti-pattern because it came up over and over again every single single time I launched a GPS application. There was no way to opt out permanently. Clicking “no”, only made it come back later and the only way to make it go away for good was to say “yes”. This is designed to harass users into giving up or even accidentally clicking yes.
It reminds me of the time when microsoft’s kept changing the windows upgrade process with the intent of tricking users.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/414929/how-microsofts-nasty-new-windows-10-pop-up-tricks-you-into-upgrading.html
You’re shirt parody could just have two buttons that both respond in the affirmative: “Date Now” and “Ok”. I don’t think many people would get the reference, but I agree it holds a striking resemblance to what corporations are doing.
Yes, in order to ensure that normal people understand the t-shirt, you’d have to print “You wouldn’t do this to potential love interests, don’t do it to your customers.” below.
This is the first “killer feature” Microsoft has had in years.
Competition:
1. Apple are barely in the AI game yet, let along having something that can tie into multiple workflows.
2. Linux distros will rip themselves apart on the AI debate. Should/can it be local, what should/can be trained on, etc
Lock-in:
Microsoft know the reason people use Windows is familiarity and workflow. Once people get used to the idea that something like co-pilot will be there system-wide it becomes a massive blocker to switching.
I mainly work in development/devops side of things and I have 0 intention of returning to a world where I have to trawl StackOverflow compared to just asking ChatGPT in-IDE.
The same will quickly become true for users. My guess is Microsoft will need a couple of swings at this, but once they nail it… it will be the de-facto expectation for a Desktop OS.
I agree with the @Kbd and @Alfman back and forths and the killer Kbd tee-shirt idea.!