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The "Windows Copilot" in Windows 11: Plug-ins extend the range of functions

Photo: Microsoft

After incorporating ChatGPT's artificial intelligence (AI) into its Bing search engine, Microsoft is now performing the same feat in reverse, incorporating Bing into ChatGPT. At the Build developer conference, which started on Tuesday in Seattle and on the web, Microsoft manager Yusuf Mehdi announced that Microsoft's search engine would be integrated into the chatbot of the AI research company OpenAI as a "standard search experience" in the future. ChatGPT can thus provide "more timely and up-to-date answers". In addition, the system can now justify its answers with information from the web and also link to more in-depth information.

The software company is potentially eliminating a vulnerability of ChatGPT that has plagued the system for a long time: its outdated level of knowledge. The AI has been trained with data that has long been outdated, as it openly admits. For example, if you ask ChatGPT about the winner of the Super Bowl 2023, he has no "real-time data or information" about events "that occurred after my last update of the training data in September 2021."

Plug-ins for AI

For users who have subscribed to the paid ChatGPT Plus offering, the Bing integration is to be made available as early as today. Users of the free version should be able to use the search engine "soon" by activating a plug-in in ChatGPT.

From Microsoft's point of view, these extensions are apparently the path to success anyway. For example, the company announced its intention to create an ecosystem for AI plug-ins together with OpenAI. These should be able to be used in ChatGPT as well as in Bing, Microsoft 365 and Windows. Corresponding software modules from Expedia, Kayak, TripAdvisor and others are to make a start and enable travel planning via chatbot, for example.

A Copilot for Windows

After the "Microsoft 365 Copilot", which is intended to add AI capabilities to Microsoft's Office programs, the company today announced the "Windows Copilot for Windows 11". Among other things, it is intended to help users control the functions of their PC with voice input. Instead of going deep into the control panel, you should be able to give the system the order: "Adjust the settings so that I can concentrate".

In addition, the system should be able to process requests as they are already known from Bing Chat. As an example, "Help me plan a fishing trip" was mentioned. The AI should also be able to use data from locally installed apps as well as information from the web.

To ensure that users can access it at any time, Windows Copilot should be able to be docked as a sidebar next to the workspace – as soon as it is available. Microsoft has promised a pre-release version for June and exclusively for Windows 11.

Mak