Microsoft's Windows 11 'How To' articles are now full of AI-generated images that make no sense

Windows 11's 'Snipping Tool' is one of its better features, offering detailed, easy-to-access controls for capturing screenshots and videos. From the ability to focus on a single window or a free-form rectangle to capture something specific and store it in memory for some copy-paste action, it's one of those features that countless Windows users make use of daily.

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In one of Microsoft's latest how-to articles posted on the Windows Learning Center titled, 'How to use Snipping Tool on Windows 11: Screenshots, shortcuts, and screen recording,' it looks like Microsoft is relying on Copilot to generate the image of Snipping Tool in action. As spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft isn't hiding this fact, as the image carries an 'AI Art Created via Copilot' caption. However, it's being called AI slop because of some glaring issues.

Well, one. The image, which shows someone sitting in front of a laptop, shows a seemingly special version of Windows 11 with two Start buttons. Which is a problem for a guide that might ask you to click the Start button and then leave you wondering, "Which one?"

Of course, this is an AI hallucination, but it looks like all of the most recent guides available on the Windows Learning Center feature similar spotty 'AI Art Created by Copilot.'

It's a little weird because there's a disconnect from the guide-like steps in each article and these images. The Snipping Tool article's AI-generated image simply has the app open with the 'Press Windows logo key + Shift + S' text on the screen, which doesn't showcase any of its features or nuances in any sort of detail that you'd expect in a guide.

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The how-to guide titled 'How to connect a controller to a PC for gaming on Windows 11' includes an AI-generated image of a couple sitting on a couch in front of a TV (which is not a Windows 11 PC) playing what looks like EA SPORTS FC on a PlayStation 4 as they're holding PS4 controllers. For a company that creates Xbox controllers used by millions of PC gamers, it's a little weird.

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The general 'What is a good gaming computer? A simple guide for PC gamers' article probably has the most egregious example: it depicts a gamer holding a PlayStation 4 controller and wearing a headset, presumably playing a racing game on a gaming laptop connected to an external display. The only problem is that they're not even looking at the game but facing the opposite direction, which makes their "I'm totally into this game" facial expression confusing.

Basically, Windows Learning Center articles and guides now feature 'AI Art Created by Copilot' with a very loose connection to the source material and information being presented.