Microsoft is trying by all means to impose its Copilot AI in its products. but in a confused way, and with clumsiness. To the point of sometimes having to go back, like for the Recall function or the keyboard key.
You will no doubt have noted this: since the release of ChatGPT and the democratization of what we call “artificial intelligence” – and which is often only algorithmic -, Microsoft has jumped on the technology train. AI, by investing billions of dollars in OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – and, above all, by integrating “AI-powered” functions and tools into all its products. But in a not very clear and not very elegant way, to the point of generating confusion and even annoyance among users. And things are not going to get better in 2025…
In fact, if we can appreciate certain tools integrated straight away into home software delivered with Windows – the “magic eraser” of Photos or the image creator of Paint – we can be more circumspect about Copilot , the multifunctional AI that Microsoft is trying to put everywhere. On the one hand, the outlines of this tool are very vague, as is its form: available as an independent application, it is now integrated by default into the Edge browser and available in Microsoft 365, the replacement for the Office suite. The problem is that it is sometimes accessible for free, sometimes associated with a paid subscription, which harms its readability. The same goes for its possibilities, which differ depending on the case. And the official Microsoft page on Copilot doesn’t really help with understanding, with vague formulas and vague promises that smack of marketing talk…
Microsoft AI: a completely useless Copilot button
That’s not all! Because to try to make its AI more popular, Microsoft had the bright idea of inventing a new label, PC Copilot+. A designation reserved for computers officially optimized for Copilot, with an NPU – a computing unit specialized in AI – and a few other technical characteristics such as minimum on-board RAM. And which requires manufacturers to add a special key to the keyboard of laptop PCs to directly launch Copilot. Magic!
However, a few months after the introduction of this special key, Microsoft admitted that it was ultimately useless, to the extent that the famous assistant can be invoked in several other ways, in Windows as well as in compatible applications. . Better yet, the editor now recommends reassigning this key – Anglophiles speak of “remap” – to another function of your choice, even indicating the procedure to follow in a technical note published on December 12, 2024 !
An inglorious admission which is difficult, and which adds to the long list of questionable choices in the implementation of AI as in the development of Windows 11, increasingly anarchic, as we have already deplored at several times (see our article). We are thinking in particular of the very controversial Recall function (Recall in French) which hit the headlines as soon as it was presented (see our article), and which the publisher delayed and modified before finally making it available, after correcting problems of security and confidentiality. And which has caused a scandal since its release, by recording highly confidential data such as banking data!
And since ridicule doesn’t kill, Asus, visibly ill-informed, has just announced the upcoming release of a mini PC equipped with… a Copilot button! Scheduled to be marketed in early 2025, the NUC 14 Pro AIwhich, as its name suggests, will be AI-oriented, will indeed present all the characteristics of a Copilot+ PC, with an Intel Core Ultra processor equipped with an NPU. And the famous useless key, what’s more, placed on its case, far from the keyboard where it was supposed to have a use.
Latest episode, spotted by NeowinMicrosoft has just decided to rename its Microsoft 365 office suite to… Microsoft 365 Copilot, just to emphasize the presence of its in-house tool. And it’s a safe bet that the publisher will follow the same path when choosing a name for the successor to Windows 11, which will perhaps be called Windows AI or Windows Copilot.
All this is all the more laughable because, apart from manufacturers, no one cares about the AI functions that now adorn all high-tech products, from applications to computers, including smartphones and connected objects. Users don’t care if there is so-called artificial intelligence in their software or devices: the only things that matter are the functions, regardless of how they work. All we can do is hope that this crazy AI fad stops and that manufacturers finally come to their senses. It’s high time that Microsoft found a real driver!