Artificial intelligence will be only a keypress away on Windows devices with Microsoft announcing a new “Copilot Key” will join the iconic Windows key on PC keyboards.
“In this new year, Microsoft will be ushering in a significant shift toward a more personal and intelligent computing future where AI will be seamlessly woven into Windows from the system, to the silicon, to the hardware,” says Microsoft in a blogpost. “This will not only simplify people’s computing experience but also amplify it, making 2024 the year of the AI PC.”
Microsoft says the new Copilot key marks the first significant change to the Windows PC keyboard in nearly three decades. It joins the Windows key as a core part of the PC keyboard and when pressed, the new key will invoke the Copilot in Windows experience to make it seamless to engage Copilot and its AI capability in day-to-day computing.
Users will begin to see the Copilot key on new Windows 11 PCs with availability beginning in late February through the first half of the year. This includes upcoming Surface devices.
A Microsoft video show the Copilot key positioned to the right of the Alt key on a Microsoft keyboard.
The change opens up the availability of Copilot across all PC functionality. Todate Copilot had been confined to the Bing search engine and its part integration with Search. Users could ask the Copilot questions, and even get Bing’s GPT4 function to create drawings and compose songs.
The change also represents a new push by Microsoft against the dominance of the Google Search Engine on PCs. In time, Windows users might prioritise pressing the Copilot key when they need to seek information ahead of firing up Google Search in a browser.
“We believe it will empower people to participate in the AI transformation more easily,” says Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft executive vice president, consumer chief marketing officer in the blogpost. “Nearly 30 years ago, we introduced the Windows key to the PC keyboard that enabled people all over the world to interact with Windows. We see this as another transformative moment in our journey with Windows where Copilot will be the entry point into the world of AI on the PC.”
Microsoft will promote the Copilot key at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES), to get underway in Las Vegas next week.
More details can be found here.
