Copilot AI in Windows 11 is getting more powerful - slowly - and more AI features are coming

Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 users will soon get the benefit of a Copilot AI that can do more things, including new abilities to manipulate settings for the OS, plus plugins have finally arrived.

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Copilot is slowly but surely getting more functionality - very slowly (Image Credit: Microsoft)

The new functionality in terms of getting Copilot to tinker with Windows 11 settings for you will roll out from late March.

It'll include the ability to tell Copilot to turn on battery saver, for example, or indeed turn it off, and to empty the Recycle Bin, or open the Voice Access panel.

Here's the full list of new commands which relate to various settings, accessibility options, and also discovering elements of device info:

• Turn on/off battery saver
• Show device information
• Show system information
• Show battery information
• Open storage page
• Launch live captions
• Launch narrator
• Launch screen magnifier
• Open voice access page
• Open text size page
• Open contrast themes page
• Launch voice input
• Show available Wi-Fi network
• Display IP address
• Show available storage space
• Empty Recycle Bin

This fleshes out Copilot a bit more, but there's still a long way to go, with only a relatively small set of these instructions right now.

Clearly, we're still a long way from an AI assistant than can take a simple instruction ("make my PC use less power") and apply that to a raft of settings to improve power efficiency on your device, to pick an example.

That vision is going to take quite some time to realize at the current rate of progress for Microsoft, but still, it is nonetheless good to see that progress is being made.

Elsewhere with Copilot, Microsoft revealed new plugins for the AI, including OpenTable and Instacart, with Shopify, Klarna and Kayak inbound over the course of March.

So, you can simply ask Copilot to organize a dinner reservation via OpenTable, for example.

Silence is golden

Furthermore, Microsoft announced additional AI chops for some of Windows 11's default apps. Clipchamp is getting 'silence removal' which, as you might guess, removes gaps in conversations in audio tracks automatically - and that feature is now available in preview.

Also coming is generative erase for the Photos app, which can be used to remove unwanted objects, or blemishes of any kind, from an image. We aren't told when that's arriving, but presumably it'll be soon enough.

Elsewhere in Windows 11 we're witnessing another dollop of AI in the rollout of intelligent Snap suggestions, which offer suggested layouts when you're snapping windows around on the desktop. The feature promises to lay out the apps in a manner based on the way you typically use them, which could be useful.

And if you delve into the world of widgets in Windows 11, the panel for these now boasts the ability to organize widgets into different categories.

Use a stylus with Windows 11? Windows Ink now supports more apps and that includes Photos, Paint, WhatsApp and Messenger. There's plenty of changes to be getting on with, that's for sure.

• 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'