Microsoft has a new Clippy and it’s an AI friend called Mico. In the company Copilot Fall Edition press event on Thursday, the company introduced a number of new features and updates to its AI chatbot, but one that telegraphed how the tech giant intends to bring artificial intelligence to consumers was the official unveiling of its AI chatbot’s “face” — an expressive avatar named Mico.
The company explains that Mico (its name stands for “Microsoft Copilot”) is intended 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 brings to mind Microsoft’s infamous productivity assistant Clippy, you wouldn’t be wrong to think so. It seems that Microsoft has decided to embrace the reference to its century-old companion, since there is even one Easter egg where if you tap Mico multiple times it will transform in Clippy.
The feature is enabled by default when using Copilot’s voice mode, but users can disable it if they wish. It’s initially available in the US, Canada and the UK, and will be able to store memories of your conversations and learn from your feedback, Microsoft says.
The Learn Live feature for US users can make Copilot a teacher that walks you through concepts rather than just providing an answer. The company notes that it has made other improvements in areas such as health-related questions and deep research.
“As we’re building this, we’re not going for engagement or optimizing for screen time. We’re building AI that brings you back into your life. That deepens the human connection. That earns your trust.” he wrote Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman in a statement.
Microsoft isn’t the only chatbot maker anthropomorphizing its AI. Market leader ChatGPT, for example, also offers a visual experience, with a range of different voice options. Meanwhile, xAI’s Grok has turned its AI into dangerous AI companions. Across app stores, companion AI apps are already attracting millions, suggesting there is consumer demand for AI characters to some degree.
However, whether or not consumers will respond to Mico’s floating drop remains to be seen.
The company says it’s also working to evolve Copilot’s personality and tone, with the introduction of a new feature called “Real Talk.” This will allow the AI to reflect the user’s conversational style, but won’t be as slanderous as other AI assistants. Instead, Microsoft says it will feel like something that’s “based on its own perspective” and will push back and challenge your ideas, which could encourage you to see things from a different perspective.
Finding a balance between a useful, conversational AI and one that leads users down rabbit holes has proven difficult. Quite a few AI incidents chatbot psychosis have been reported, where AI users have their delusions reinforced by their conversation with the chatbot.
The fall Copilot update introduced a number of other new features to Microsoft’s AI, including the ability to bring friends into your Copilot AI conversations, support for long-term memory, connections to connect productivity apps like email and cloud storage, and expanded AI integrations for its browser, Microsoft Edge.
The company said it’s working to evolve Edge into an AI browser that can see your tabs, summarize and compare information, and take action for you 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 leader Chrome, which has built-in its Gemini AI.
