Windows 11 Paint app could get another AI feature, but what it'll do is a mystery so far

Windows 11's Paint app could get another AI feature, or at least that's what the grapevine is suggesting.

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Microsoft's main focus with AI in Windows 11 is, naturally enough, the Copilot assistant (Image Credit: Microsoft)

Windows Latest grabbed the scoop on this one, with the website spotting a file which is called 'NPUDetect' in the Paint client.

What does that mean? Well, as you're doubtless aware, Paint already has a Cocreator AI feature (which can knock up images as needed, using Dall-E 3 which is seriously impressive), so it's presumably hinting that another AI capability is inbound. One that will make use of the NPUs which are coming on-board modern CPUs (such as Intel's Meteor Lake laptop chips).

Windows Latest speculates about AI features that might run along the lines of advanced editing tools, or similar bells and whistles, although there's a decent reason to have pause for thought here.

Part of the philosophy of Microsoft's default apps is to keep them relatively simple and streamlined - Paint is not supposed to rival a serious, more heavyweight image editor. So, will Microsoft really be wanting to build it out with too many features in that light?

Some might argue that the company won't, but then again, another AI-powered feature wouldn't exactly be overdoing it - and given Microsoft's current major focus on AI, it is likely more functionality will be coming along these lines. Likely to other core apps in Windows 11, for that matter.

As ever, time will tell. The biggest piece of the AI puzzle for Windows 11, however, is of course Copilot, which just got some new abilities to manipulate settings for the operating system - quite a few more, actually. The catch is that they remain in testing for now, but we can expect them to arrive with Windows 11 24H2.

• Read more: Windows 11's Copilot AI might take over your desktop in the future
• Read more: Microsoft urged to extend Windows 10's lifespan or face 'biggest jump in junked computers ever'