Microsoft's Copilot+ PCs: Revolutionizing AI-Powered Computing

8 Cool Things You Can Do Only With a Copilot+ PC

Microsoft's Copilot+ and Copilot terms aren't as closely related as you might think. Copilot (with no plus sign) is a generative AI tool you can use via Android and iOS apps, Office apps, a web browser (including in the Edge browser's sidebar), and Windows. Copilot+, meanwhile, is a name for a class of PCs with neural processing units (NPUs) that enable them to perform AI tasks locally rather than on powerful servers in the cloud. That AI muscle right inside the chassis means that Copilot+ PCs (for now, all of them are laptops) can do some things that other PCs simply can't, or can't without employing cloud-based processing. The Copilot+ features I highlight here take advantage of this local processing capability for things like image creation and live automatic captions. (Just keep in mind that the image AI tools still send results to the cloud for safety reasons.) I've been using an Arm-based Surface Laptop recently. It's a Copilot+ PC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU. And unlike my previous go-rounds with Windows on Arm, I haven't encountered any regrets, snafus, or disappointments. (See our review of this Snapdragon-based PC, the 2024 version of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-Inch.) Not all Copilot+ PCs are Arm-based, however, with Intel- and AMD-based options now available. The latter machines won't have any potential app compatibility issues, but they still benefit from the extra AI goodies below. You just won't necessarily get the stellar battery life of the Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PCs. A Note About Windows Recall I don't discuss the Windows Recall feature here because it's not generally available. (It requires enrolling in a prerelease Dev channel.) Instead, I focus on features that any Copilot+ PC owner can enjoy right now. Although the tech media has been very vocal about fears related to the Recall feature, it's fully opt-in and keeps everything it does encrypted on the local device. What's more, testers of the Recall feature have found it impressively helpful. 1. Cocreator Images Copilot+ PCs can either generate an image from scratch based on your text prompt or refine something you draw. This Cocreator feature lives within the updated Paint app on Copilot+ PCs. You can simply draw a rough sketch and enter some text that describes how you want the final image to look. Then, the AI generates a presentable illustration. You can even continue drawing to refine the image or add elements. Apple recently announced a nearly identical experience with its Image Playground. A fun aspect of Cocreator is the Creativity slider. This controls how close to your original drawing the result will be. I found that a setting of about 50 was a good compromise between my awful drawing and a more recognizable, polished result. If you go above 65, you might as well just use a text prompt since the result becomes vastly different from your original drawing. You can also start with a photo and ask Cocreator to give it a style or add elements. It converts any text in your image to gibberish. Cocreator works only on pictures with a maximum dimension of 2,000 pixels per side. For this tool and the next three, you must sit through a Preparing the AI Model step upon first use. This takes just a couple of minutes. You also have to sign in to your Microsoft account. 2. Image Creator Available in the Photos app, Image Creator is a generative AI tool for creating images from scratch based on your text prompt. The feature requires a download, but it installs quickly. To get started, simply click on the Image Creator option in the left menu panel. A page with a large text box at the top should appear, along with some suggestions for the types of images you can create. It generates more options as you scroll down. When I asked the tool to generate an image of an alligator playing the harpsichord in a palace, some elements were in the wrong place or otherwise looked off. More straightforward requests (such as a bluebird in an apple tree) yield impressive results. As mentioned, the app uploads the images you create to Microsoft for a safety check. 3. Restyle Also in the Photos app, Restyle applies AI effects to your existing photos. One of two AI-designated buttons atop the Edit window (along with Super Resolution), Restyle lets you enter text in a box to describe a new style for your picture. Suggestions include Anime, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, and Renaissance, but you can type any descriptor you want. Like the Cocreator tool above, you get a slider to control how creative you want the result to be. The lower you set it, the closer your image stays to the original. At settings higher than about 35, images begin to no longer resemble the original. Several of the results I got in testing were just pixelated composites without much in the way of style. I like that you can limit applying Restyle to the background or foreground only. Thus, you can leave subjects alone while putting them in a fanciful setting. 4. Super Resolution This resembles tools you find in Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI, and other pro photo software. You can resize an image between 2x and 8x, improving detail and removing artifacts in the process. I got the best results using a modest 2x or 3x setting. The tool isn't perfect, and your image won't appear as if it were originally tack-sharp, but the jagged edges do get better. A split-screen view lets you compare the before and after views, which I appreciate. 5. Live Captions Some commentators have gone so far as to call the Live Captions feature "the objectively best AI tool on Copilot+ PCs." It can automatically create captions in English from 40 other languages, and it works with any playing audio on your Copilot+ PC. You just need to download a language file before you can use it. You can change the position of the narrow caption window from the top of the screen to the bottom, or have it overlaid in the middle. The main limitation is that the sole target language choices, for now, are flavors of English. Additional options include a profanity filter and a toggle for microphone input in the captions. The latter is useful for video calls that include people with hearing loss. I tested this tool while watching a foreign-language movie on YouTube without English captions. Its translations from Spanish were helpful, if not 100% perfect. 6. Studio Effects These effects work in any app that uses your PC's webcam. A Studio Effects button in the taskbar's Quick Settings panel gives you access to them. The available effects include Automatic Framing, background effects (Portrait and Standard Blur), Eye Contact (with Standard and Teleprompter options), Creative Filters (such as Animated, Illustrated, and Watercolor), and Portrait Light. The coolest of these is the automatic framing; you can see the webcam view zoom in on your head and shoulders to fill the frame. The Eye Contact feature didn't work well in testing, and background blur is all but standard in videoconferencing services, but the Creative Filters make skin look smooth and artistic. 7. Hit the Copilot Key Copilot+ PCs have a built-in Copilot key with the AI's snazzy logo. (You can still get the deprecated Menu key's functionality by simultaneously pressing the Function key.) The Copilot key simply opens the regular Copilot app, which can answer questions, compose text, or create images. It's truly conversational, with a realistic choice of four voice personalities. (It lets you interrupt, and it won't trip up if you have to correct yourself.) You also get an AI-generated custom daily podcast, Copilot Daily, that covers news and other topics, which I found rather interesting. The Copilot app in Windows can no longer control PC functions, like switching between light and dark mode, but those functions were always a bit clunky, anyway. 8. Run Windows Apps With Faster AI Features A few months back, PCMag tested the compatibility of more than 30 Windows applications -- ones that weren't ported to run natively on Arm-based PCs -- on a Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PC, and the overwhelming majority of them ran speedily and without issues. But some apps, particularly those with AI features, can take advantage of the NPUs in Copilot PCs to speed up functions. For example, if you run the terrific DaVinci Resolve video editing software, you can take advantage of a Copilot+ PC's native processing for AI color corrections. Skylum Luminar, too, uses local AI processing for photo effects. With the move to AI in all software, these benefits will only multiply over time. More on Microsoft Copilot+ PCs For a look at some of the niftier new computers available, read 5 Ways Copilot+ PCs Solve the Biggest Problems With AI PCs. And to get an idea of what day-to-day use of such a PC is like, read Living With Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7x, a Copilot+ PC.

I used Copilot AI Vision to browse the web for me, and it has big potential

Who really needs an AI assistant to help find information on the internet? It depends on what you're trying to find. Decades ago, if you wanted information on anything, you would go to the library and open a book. That changed with the emergence of the web and search engines, where now all you have to do is type in a search query and get all the information you could ever want. As if that wasn't easy enough, artificial intelligence (AI) is here to make information gathering even more hands-off. Earlier this month, Microsoft launched Copilot Vision, an experience in which Copilot can view and understand the context of what you're doing online to provide verbal real-time assistance. The idea is that when you need feedback or advice while browsing, you can tap into a live assistant for help. Also: 3 lucrative side hustles you can start right now with OpenAI's Sora video generator The experience lives in Microsoft Edge and is available in preview for a select group of Copilot Pro subscribers with the $20-per-month subscription through Copilot Labs and US Copilot Pro subscribers on Windows. I got early access and put it to the test. Is the subscription worth it to access Copilot Vision? Here's my experience. In theory, searching the web is pretty self-explanatory, so getting help with it may seem superfluous. However, when I went through the onboarding demo experience, I got pretty excited, as the applications seemed genuinely useful. Example use cases included having several pictures on my screen and asking Copilot Vision to help sort through them. In one instance, there were many pictures of various dog breeds, and I was prompted to ask Copilot Vision to tell me more about them verbally. The assistant reviewed each picture and told me more about each breed -- despite there being no text on the screen. In another example, there were pictures of different cities on the screen, again with no text, and I was prompted to ask which one was the oldest. Copilot Vision identified each city and explained which was the oldest and why. Also: How to use Microsoft's Copilot AI on Linux In my favorite example, the AI tool took a sample article and summarized it for me when I asked. I can see this being a powerful tool for research, especially if you're looking for information on one specific thing and don't want to skim the piece yourself to see if it has what you need. Now, in theory, you can just ask. In all of the demos, Copilot Vision's ability to understand me was very impressive; it understood me regardless of how quickly I spoke or if I mumbled, which was a major plus because it made the experience smooth and intuitive. However, when it was time to start using it on my own websites, I was slightly disappointed while exploring the real-life applications. Right now, Copilot Vision can access a limited number of sites, including Wikipedia, Tripadvisor, Amazon, Target, OpenTable, Wayfair, Food & Wine, Williams Sonoma, and Geoguessr. The majority of these are shopping websites, and my experience was that there isn't much meaningful assistance that can happen when doing online shopping. Ways it was able to help me include navigating the shopping sites, guiding me to specific sections, such as deals, and figuring out what tabs to click and what sections to go to. For example, on Amazon, when I asked if I could help my mom find something to get for Christmas, it suggested which tabs on the site I should click on to find items that would interest her. The Vision portion wasn't especially helpful because I could see the tabs on the site myself. It then offered me generic product suggestions, such as a book or sweater. When I clicked on a random tab, I asked it to give me feedback on what the best gift for her would be from the options shown. It picked the first item on the screen, which in this case was an Amazon Fire HD tablet, listing its obvious and topline use cases -- again, not very helpful. On the three content sites available -- Wikipedia, Tripadvisor, and Food & Wine -- Copilot Vision showed more promise because it was able to summarize the articles' contents, which seems like a major productivity win for workers, students, and others. On Food & Wine, which has a more traditional homepage with its most trending articles displayed, the AI was also helpful in giving a rundown of what I was looking at, briefly explaining the top story and other featured articles. However, I don't use Wikipedia for my research because of its third-party entries, and the two other sites are very niche in their focus, so I'm not sure how helpful Copilot Vision will be unless you already happen to be on one of these sites. Also: You can interview the AI hosts of your NotebookLM podcast now The last two serve more unique use cases: OpenTable and GeoGuessr. On OpenTable -- a site used to browse for restaurants and book reservations -- it wasn't very helpful because, again, it can only assist with what you're looking at. For example, if you ask for recommendations for a Mexican restaurant that night, it will simply tell you what is already visible. Exploring GeoGuessr is where Copilot Vision was the most helpful, acting as an assistant who knew all the answers. Like having a very informed partner on your team, the AI gave me some helpful tips -- which is cheating, in a way. Naturally, with having an AI model looking at your screen comes concerns about it looking at your data. To address these, Microsoft has a robust Q+A that answers people's most burning questions. For starters, the company reassures users that Copilot Vision only views their Edge window in an active Vision session, designated by a browser frame with a hue indicating they are in an active session. This is the major differentiator from Recall, a feature that takes snapshots of a user's screen in the background at all times when users on Copilot+ PCs opt in -- and has undergone much controversy. Also: The best AI chatbots According to the company, Copilot's responses are only logged to monitor unsafe interactions, but user inputs, including text, images, and contexts, are never stored. Furthermore, a user's input data is deleted once a session ends. Right now, getting Copilot Pro just for Copilot Vision would not be worth it, especially because access is not guaranteed. However, with the $20-per-month subscription, users also gain access to other perks, such as priority access to the latest models and Copilot in select Microsoft 365 apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. This makes it a fun bonus to tinker with if you're already a Copilot power user and could benefit from these other perks.