Microsoft plans to bring AI to core Windows 11 apps

Experimenting with AI for Ms Paint

Insiders reveal the software giant Microsoft is exploring significant artificial intelligence additions to key Windows 11 applications as it looks to infuse more AI capabilities into its flagship operating system. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans shared details on potential integrations being tested for Photos, Snipping Tool and Paint.

The Photos app may soon gain image recognition tools to identify objects and people featured in photos. This would allow users to cut out and copy/paste detected elements, similar to functions offered on iOS and Android devices. Bringing such object extraction functionality to Windows Photos could make working with images even more seamless and intuitive.

Screenshot utility Snipping Tool is reportedly being looked at for optical character recognition integration. This would allow Windows to analyze Snips for text and enable one-click copying to the clipboard. Leveraging OCR could streamline annotating or sharing snippets of content.

Perhaps most ambitious is Microsoft’s reported experimentation with generative AI for Ms Paint. Leveraging similar technologies as Bing Image Creator, the classic drawing program may gain capabilities for designing canvases based on user prompts. Creatives could generate new artwork influenced by their input rather than starting from scratch.

While some AI-powered changes could necessitate dedicated hardware like neural or vision processors, Microsoft aims to balance hardware-intensive and lightweight options. But implementing even basic AI tools across core apps would bring Windows more in line with the machine learning-fueled experiences found on competing platforms.

No definitive timeline was provided, but sources say Microsoft will showcase new AI developments when it holds a Windows-centric event later this month. Underneath the surface, greater AI integration is also expected with the following major Windows update arriving in 2024 as Microsoft looks to weave intelligence deeper into its operating systems. For now, these reported tests offer early signs of enhanced intelligence coming to some of users’ most used Windows applications.