Microsoft to release “AI Explorer” this year

According to Windows Central, Microsoft will be rolling out a number of AI features on Windows 11 later this year, including a new feature internally dubbed "AI Explorer".

Described by Microsoft as an "advanced Copilot," "AI Explorer" is a heavy-duty AI experience that separates AI PCs from non-AI PCs, according to the source.

Its built-in history/timeline feature, available in all apps, is able to take all the actions a user has taken on the PC and turn them into moments that can be searched in natural language, which then allows the user to search for previously opened conversations, documents, web pages and images.

For example, a user could type "Help me find a list of restaurants that Jenna says she likes," and the system would be able to pull up the exact conversations the user had with Jenna about those restaurants.

Even vague prompts, such as "Help me find things about dinosaurs," can be useful, and the system will pull up all the words, phrases, images, and topics related to dinosaurs that the user has previously opened on the computer.

Not only that, but AI Explorer can also understand context, help users start projects or workflows, and even give task suggestions based on what's currently on the screen.

Let's say the user is viewing an image in an app. In this case, AI Explorer will automatically display an "Edit Image" button that allows the user to type various commands, such as "Remove the background of this image using the Photos app".

These new features are expected to be released this fall as part of the Windows 11 24H2 update, and it's not clear if Microsoft will reveal some of them at its March launch event.