Microsoft’s Mico is the “Clippy” of the AI ​​era

Microsoft has a new Clippy, an AI friend named Mico. At Copilot’s fall release press event on Thursday, the company introduced a host of new features and updates to its chatbot, but the feature that made clear how the tech giant intends to bring AI to consumers was the official introduction of the “face” of its chatbot — an expressive avatar called Mico.

The company explains that Mico (its name is a nod to “Microsoft Copilot”) aims to offer consumers a “warm” and “customizable” visual presence that “listens, reacts and even changes colors to reflect your interactions.”

If the talking AI assistant immediately conjures up Microsoft’s infamous productivity assistant, Clippy, you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking so. It seems Microsoft has decided to embrace the nod to its old companion, as there’s even an Easter egg where, if you tap Mico a few times, it will turn into Clippy.

This feature is enabled by default when using Copilot’s voice mode, but users can turn it off if they choose. Microsoft says the app is initially available in the US, Canada and the UK, and will be able to save memories of your conversations and learn from your comments.

Learn Live mode for US users can have Copilot be a tutor walking you through concepts instead of just providing an answer. The company notes that it has made other improvements in areas such as health-related questions and deeper research as well.

“As we build this, we’re not looking to engage or improve screen time. We’re building AI that brings you back into your life. That deepens human connection. That earns your trust,” Mustafa Suleiman, Microsoft AI CEO, wrote in an announcement.

Microsoft isn’t the only chatbot manufacturer to embody its own artificial intelligence. For example, market leader ChatGPT offers a visual experience as well, with a number of different audio options. Meanwhile, xAI’s Grok turns his AI into risky AI companions. Across app stores, AI companion apps are already attracting millions, indicating that there is consumer demand for AI characters to some extent.

However, it remains to be seen whether consumers will respond to Mico’s floating point or not.

The company says it is also working on developing the personality and tone of the co-pilot, by introducing a new mode called “Real Talk.” This will allow the AI ​​to mirror the user’s conversational style, but it won’t be as fawning as other AI assistants. Instead, Microsoft says it will feel like something “grounded in its own perspective,” and will push back and challenge your ideas, which may encourage you to see things from a different perspective.

Finding a balance between useful, conversational AI and AI that leads users down the rabbit hole has proven difficult. Several incidents of psychosis caused by chatbots have been reported, where AI users have their delusional beliefs reinforced by their conversation with chatbots.

The Copilot fall update introduced a number of other new features to Microsoft’s AI, including the ability to bring friends into Copilot AI conversations, long-term memory support, connectors for connecting productivity apps like email and cloud storage, and AI updates to the Microsoft Edge browser.

The company said it is developing Edge into an AI browser that can see your tabs, summarize and compare information, and take action on your behalf on things like booking a hotel or filling out forms. This would allow Edge to compete with other AI browsers, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity’s Comet, Dia, and others, as well as market-leading Chrome, which has integrated Gemini AI.