Back in 2015, Microsoft introduced Cortana alongside Windows 10 and promoted it as a digital personal assistant that could help you with many of your daily tasks.
The big picture: Microsoft has been adding OpenAI’s technology into all of its software and services, guided by the belief that AI can transform the way people use productivity apps, web browsers, search engines, and various cloud services. That vision includes an AI-based personal digital assistant that will soon live inside Windows 11 as well as AI tweaks for apps like the Microsoft Store.
Back in 2015, Microsoft introduced Cortana alongside Windows 10 and promoted it as a digital personal assistant that could help you with many of your daily tasks. After an underwhelming reception and a few attempts to bring it to smart home devices, the company gave up on its initial ambitions and started neutering Cortana – first by decoupling it from Windows Search, then by stripping away some of its capabilities, and finally burying pieces of its digital corpse into Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Microsoft ToDo, and other productivity apps.
Fast forward to 2023, and Microsoft is announcing an AI-based personal assistant for Windows 11 that you’ll be able to invoke from the taskbar. The Windows “Copilot” will work in a similar way to the one inside Office apps, Microsoft Edge, and GitHub – as a sidebar that can be easily called into action when you need help with a particular task.
