Microsoft Announces AI Key on Windows 11 Keyboard

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Facts

  • In its latest effort to boost its partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, Microsoft has announced that some new personal computers (PCs) will have an AI key on their keyboard that will connect users to Copilot, formerly known as Bing Chat.1
  • The new Copilot key will replace the right 'ctrl' key on some keyboards and the menu key — which was launched around 30 years ago — on others. When clicked, it will open Windows 11's Copilot, which includes a Chat-GPT-style AI chatbot.2
  • While Copilot has been integrated into Microsoft 365 and Bing Chat since last year by pressing the Windows key + C, the new AI key will 'simplify' and 'amplify' the user experience, according to Microsoft's Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi. Within Office 365 products like Word, PowerPoint, and Teams, Copilot can summarize text and draft documents, among other tasks.3
  • The company said that its mobile Bing app, into which Copilot has also been integrated, may be renamed the Copilot app. Beyond text summarization, the app can utilize its Image Creator — which is powered by DALL-E 3 — to create social media, brand, and logo designs, among other creative applications.4
  • Microsoft Windows is run on 82% of all PCs, compared to 9% for Apple and a little over 6% for Google's operating systems. While the company hasn't yet announced which manufacturers are going to build the new keyboards, it said some of them will show their new models at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.1
  • For those living in countries where Copilot isn't yet available, the Copilot key will instead open up Windows Search. It's also not yet known whether Microsoft will allow users to combine the key with other keys.5

Sources: 1ABC News, 2Associated Press, 3BBC News, 4TechCrunch and 5Verge.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNBC. As the new year begins, Microsoft is showing the world a glimpse of the AI future. The world's most popular personal computers will now give every Microsoft Windows 11 user quick access to a personal assistant to help write emails, create images, and summarize work chats to make life easier. Microsoft will certainly boost its hardware sales in the coming months as users switch to the more convenient keyboard with the Copilot key.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Stratechery by Ben Thompson. Any endeavors pushed by Bill Gates' companies should be immediately questioned. The founder of Microsoft has a failed record of technological predictions but has somehow remained one of the so-called experts that governments turn to when making regulatory decisions. Regarding AI, the US government has yet again chosen to support Gates' 'trust me, I've got it' approach as we enter the incredibly unpredictable future of AI.

Predictions