New AI functions from Microsoft
When the PC gets a memory
The tech company Microsoft is selling its new AI applications with Copilot as a "photographic memory" for the PC. The PC takes a screenshot every few seconds.
May is already characterized by major announcements from US tech companies on artificial intelligence (AI): first OpenAI and Google presented updates to their respective chatbots.
Now it's Microsoft' s turn: unlike Google and OpenAI, this time it's about the fusion of artificial intelligence and computers.
The US start-up Eternos has developed an AI that leaves relatives a digital twin of a deceased person. Media ethicists fear the consequences for coping with grief.
Copilot+ PCs - what's behind the announcement
Microsoft's AI assistant is called Copilot, developed using the same basic model as OpenAI's ChatGPT, and is now set to become a permanent feature of Windows computers. A new additional chip is to be used exclusively for AI applications.
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Microsoft calls this "Copilot+ PCs". It is designed to make computers significantly faster and also extend battery life. According to Microsoft, this should enable applications "that are not possible on any other PC".
Find and remember everything you've ever seen on your PC with 'Recall'.
Microsoft
With the new "Recall" search function, Microsoft wants to make it easier to find files, photos and other elements on the PC, not just with a pure keyword search, but as a semantic search, which should make it easy to find images, for example, and you should no longer have to remember the exact file name of documents.
This is how it should work:
- The computer takes screen recordings at short intervals
- These are then analyzed using artificial intelligence
- The search uses functions such as image and text recognition
A video on Platform X shows how a person searches for a brown bag on "Recall" and arrives at the desired result - a picture of a brown bag.
"Recall" - is that safe?
This is more in line with how human memory works, Microsoft argues: "You can scroll through time to find the content you need in your timeline in any application, website, document or more."
The goal in the computer industry has always been to "build computers that understand us, rather than us having to understand computers", said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the presentation at the company's headquarters on Monday.
With Recall, you can now access everything you've seen or done on your PC as if you had a photographic memory.
Microsoft
Storage only for a few months
To ensure that this works smoothly, also works offline and the user's data is secure, these screen recordings are stored locally: "You can delete individual screenshots, adjust and delete time ranges in the settings or pause them at any time directly via the icon in the taskbar," writes Microsoft.
However, local storage also has disadvantages: On AI PCs with the minimum memory of 256 gigabytes, the function's memory will only go back about three months. More than 18 months is therefore not possible, even with a larger memory. At the same time, Mehdi assures that the range of functions will be expanded over time.
The EU Parliament votes in favor of the AI Act by a large majority. The law is the first of its kind and provides for the classification of AI systems into different risk groups.
When the co-pilot helps with gaming
Another use case is the co-pilot as a live assistant when working or playing on the computer. A demonstration shows how the AI talks to the user in real time while gaming: the user asks detailed questions about the game and chats away. The co-pilot explains, gives tips - and also shows emotions when the player is being chased by dangerous zombies.
New Windows AI PCs from mid-June
The AI applications will run on new Microsoft Surface devices as well as on PCs from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung. According to Microsoft, the new devices will be available from June 18 and start at 999 US dollars.