In the past few months, AI companies have been working to make their models more human-like. First, they started making generated text more approachable and closer to how people actually communicate. Then, with the advent of text-to-speech technology, companies began striving to make them speak like real people and answer questions at the same pace as genuine conversation. Now, the next step is adding the final touch to these AIs: a face that can meet your gaze.
Microsoft is giving Copilot a new face in hopes of making it more popular with users.
Copilot Labs In an article, Microsoft explained the significance of this new feature for AI users. It is called “Copilot Appearance,” and the concept is to make Copilot tangible.
Copilot’s concrete form appears to be a floating white blob with a face on it, making it look like a friendlier, better-shooting plush ball. Microsoft’s description of Copilot Appearance is as follows:
如果你在聊天時可以看到 Copilot 的表情符號回應和語音，覺得如何？在這個實驗中，我們將更多非語言溝通帶入 Copilot，透過即時的視覺表達來增強語音對話。這個早期的原型讓您能以更具吸引力和表現力的方式，與 Copilot 聊天、腦力激盪、尋求建議，或只是隨意互動。
Currently, Copilot Appearance is still in beta and only available to some users in the US, UK, and Canada. So if you invoke Copilot on the current version, you won’t see that little face. But if you sign up for the beta version and are lucky enough to be selected by Microsoft for testing, you can enable it with a few simple commands.
Microsoft seems to want to turn Copilot into a friend and colleague that can meet all your needs. It feels like the paperclip (Clippy) from early Office tools. Clippy was a digital assistant with a cute personality that made it easier for users to warm to it. However, seeing companies make their own models more and more human-like is also a bit concerning—after all, these models are still digital language models, not truly thinking beings. That said, as people use AI for work and entertainment, it’s an inevitable trend for companies to try to make AI assistants your new best friend.
Source: KOCPC Chinese