Summary
- Microsoft Edge is introducing an AI mode called “Copilot Mode” that replaces the usual new tab page with AI features.
- The Copilot icon replaces the Bing or Search icon, redirecting search queries to the Copilot website.
- An optional feature called “Context Clues” provides AI-generated assistance based on your browsing history, but it can be manually turned on/off.
AI is everywhere these days. And it’s only going to get worse. Our browsers have, so far, been spared from the madness for the most part, with only minor integrations at best. Microsoft’s Edge browser is due to get an “AI mode” that evokes heavy Clippy vibes.
The latest update to Microsoft Edge, version 136, is adding a new “Copilot Mode” to the browser for some people that, frankly, looks very cursed. Edge currently features Copilot integration, but it’s basically just a sidebar that pulls out the Copilot client for easy access. This, however, would bring a variety of AI features to the browsing experience itself. In its current implementation, it appears to bring two things to the table. The most notable one is an AI-powered new tab page that basically replaces the standard new tab page for a souped-up Copilot window, with a few prompt suggestions. It does have the usual website suggestions based on your search history, but that’s clearly deprioritized for a huge Copilot prompt box that shows up right when you open the browser.
Microsoft is replacing the conventional Bing or Search icon with the Copilot icon, and all interactions with this search box will route users to the Copilot website, with queries automatically wrapped in a prompt format suitable for the AI. Microsoft wants most, if not all, search queries to be routed through Copilot, and this redesigned new tab page is a testament to that.
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Perhaps the most cursed out of the two additions in this Copilot Mode is “Context Clues.” This optional feature, if enabled, allows Copilot to provide AI-generated answers and assistance based on your “current webpage, browser history, or your preferences in Microsoft Edge.” This would essentially be the AI equivalent to Clippy, in a way—an omnipresent assistant ready to jump in at any time if you ever need it. If implemented properly, it could be useful for some people, but the way this sounds right now makes it look like something extremely invasive. Thankfully, this is an optional feature that you’d need to turn on manually, and this will hopefully remain the case once this feature rolls out to more people.
This is seemingly rolling out as part of version 136, though it might be a staged roll-out. There is a flag that you can turn on manually in the browser’s experimental flags section, though I tried turning it on and I wasn’t able to get Copilot Mode to show up. It could show up for more people in future updates, though, so if this is something you want, keep an eye out for an update coming soon. This sounds like one of those things where you won’t get much of a choice, though.
Source: Windows Latest
