Since its release in 2021, Windows 11 has been a staple for countless users, but Microsoft is now poised to redefine its operating system by ushering in an era of enhanced artificial intelligence. Today marks the beginning of a significant rollout, introducing new AI capabilities designed to foster more natural interactions. Users are encouraged to engage with Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, through voice commands, empowering the system to handle routine tasks with greater ease. This initiative is accompanied by a new advertising campaign inviting everyone to “meet the computer you can talk to.”
“We believe we are at the precipice of the next major evolution,” stated Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer chief marketing officer. “AI isn’t just confined to chatbots anymore; it’s being seamlessly woven into the hundreds of millions of daily user experiences. Our overarching goal is to completely reimagine the operating system around AI, crafting what will truly be known as the AI PC.”
These new functionalities bear a resemblance to the voice options previously seen with Cortana on Windows 10. For instance, users will soon be able to awaken their PC from standby simply by uttering “Hey, Copilot!” Mehdi expresses strong confidence that users will embrace voice controls more enthusiastically than ever before.
It’s important to note that Windows 11 users will always retain control, needing to grant explicit permission for AI to perform actions on their behalf. As part of this phased introduction, Microsoft is leveraging Copilot Vision, which can analyze on-screen content to offer context-aware assistance and prompts related to documents, photos, and various applications. While Copilot Actions—the AI assistant capable of executing commands on your local PC—is still under active development and testing, it’s not yet ready for a widespread release. Meanwhile, Copilot is conveniently being integrated directly into the Windows taskbar, making voice commands even more accessible.
The conversation around AI continues to grow, extending into the gaming industry. Recently, notable game developers Hideo Kojima and Glen Schofield voiced their support for embracing AI tools. A recent industry survey indicated that over half of Japanese game publishers are already incorporating AI in some capacity. However, the ethical implications of AI remain a hot topic, particularly after OpenAI’s new Sora 2 appeared to use Nintendo’s intellectual property without authorization, prompting a formal request from the Japanese government for OpenAI to cease such copyright infringement.