Microsoft deleted the over-eager office assistant Clippy some 17 years ago, but the vision for an friendly and optimistic AI helper has apparently found its way out of the Recycle Bin. The company is overhauling Copilot, the text-based artificial intelligence tool bundled with Windows and other software, with the addition of vision, voice, and the ability to solve more complex problems—along with a more “encouraging” personality.
“We really are at this amazing kind of transition point,” says Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI. “AI companions now see what we see, hear what we hear, and speak in the same language that we use to communicate with one another.”
Copilot has so far met with a mixed response, with some users complaining of lag or vagueness in its responses, but Microsoft is betting that the tool could eventually become an integral part of Windows, Office, and beyond. By incorporating OpenAI’s AI algorithms into software that is used by hundreds of millions of people, the company is also at the forefront of testing the potential for AI to boost productivity in office work. Google, a big rival, is also shoehorning AI into office apps including Gmail and Google Docs.
The new Copilot will be able to converse with users in several humanlike voices, handling interruptions and pauses naturally. “You can interrupt in mid-flow and it can also actively listen,” Suleyman says. “And that’s kind of the art of great conversation.”
Suleyman adds that Copilot has also been tweaked so that it offers more emotional support to users. “It’s on your team, it’s backing you up, it’s your hype man,” he says. Copilot Voice will be available from today in English to users in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with more countries to follow, the company says.
Microsoft’s helper Clippy, an anthropomorphized paper clip, was best known for appearing when users opened Word with the infamous line “It looks like you’re writing a letter…” The product was unpopular; Microsoft concluded this was in part because the program failed to deliver on the humanlike intelligence it promised, forgetting users’ preferences and repeating itself endlessly. Large language models are far better at mimicking human intelligence, but their behavior can still be odd and unpredictable, which may prove a factor in Copilot’s popularity.
Copilot Voice will be available in the free version of Copilot for Windows, which is also available in a standalone mobile app and via the web.
Microsoft is introducing some more experimental upgrades to Copilot as well, which will be limited to those who pay for a $20 per month Copilot Pro subscription. An opt-in feature called Copilot Vision will let the AI assistant see users’ screens and react to things that they point to with their cursor. Suleyman says a user can indicate a product, for example, and ask Copilot to offer an opinion based on reviews sourced from the web.
“One of the things that seems to be most common is that people ask it for aesthetic advice,” Suleyman says. “They’re on a fashion website, and they’re like, what do you call that pattern? What do you call that dress?”