PCs and Copilot go steady

(Part 3 AI conferences highlights)

Whereas Google and OpenAI were busy playing relaxed, fun, cool kids, Mr. Nadella said: Forget it. We're Microsoft. Get your matching suit pants and sensible shoes, and let's rock and roll." ?And that they did.

The conference was not just a typical tech event but a surprisingly fun and engaging one. The motif was clear: Your laptop needs Copilot. This theme kept showing up in different variations of features and products.

Some of their key highlights:

The Surface Pro 10 and the Surface Laptop 6 are prime examples of the Copilot + PC marriage, imagined to support businesses and everyday folks like us. They promise improved performance and longer battery life, all for around $1,000.

The introduction of Recall was a mixed bag. The feature is phenomenal: It replaces the old Timeline with a more intelligent, AI-driven tool that makes searching through files and internet history a snap of your fingers. MS promises to keep your data private with local storage solutions, addressing the often-occurring pesky data security concerns. This reassurance should help build trust in the new feature.

The most fun section of the conference for both the presenters and the audience was Copilot+ PCs and the improvements for creative processes. Copilot PCs come equipped with local processing capabilities for image generation, utilizing Microsoft Designer and Paint Cocreator via Dall-E 3. This means you can see your creative ideas come to life instantly without any privacy concerns. The revamped Microsoft Photos app now has AI tools that let you alter photo backgrounds and styles, offering fun and creative options like Cyberpunk and Claymation. Plus, the new Image Creator feature allows you to create images from the ground up.

And for those who need to connect with the world, the Copilot+ Live Captions feature is a standout. It can translate audio content from dozens of languages into English, working with live and recorded material.

In hindsight, Microsoft intentionally puts the user experience at the center of its product design. That's refreshing and a smart move in these experience economy times. Time will tell what users ultimately adopt and what falls off the wayside. ?What are your thoughts?