Microsoft launches Copilot+ PCs in Australia, changing Aussie workplaces with AI

Microsoft has launched Copilot+ PCs in Australia, which will mark a big change for office workers around the country.

Microsoft is everywhere in the corporate world and an estimated 72 per cent of people around the planet use Windows as a desktop operating system.

On Tuesday the American tech company, which has a market cap of about $5 trillion, launched one its most ambitious products yet in Australia: Copilot+ PCs.

That means office workers around Australia using Microsoft Surface or one of the company’s OEM partners will soon be introduced to a vastly different computer, supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI).

At the heart of the change is Microsoft’s new neural processing unit (NPU) — a chip purpose-built for AI that does the job better than either central processing units or graphics processing units.

You can spot devices with the new NPU and AI as the desktop wallpaper will show a rainbow bloom rather than the standard bloom.

Copilot+ PCs has launched in Australia (inset is an image of the new NPU). Picture: Supplied

It’s the latest step in the AI revolution which has been in full swing since the launch of ChatGPT. Since then, Meta and Apple have also jumped into the game, helping to catapult Nvidia into the position as the world’s most valuable company.

Microsoft’s new tech will irrevocably change how people use some of the most popular programs in Australia including Word, Excel and Edge.

I was at the launch on Tuesday at the Microsoft Experience Centre in Pitt Street, Sydney and these are four of the best new products.

Recall

I imagine a group of Microsoft developers sat in a room and brainstormed about how to use the new NPU. Someone must have come up with the idea that humans are terrible at remembering things while computers are excellent at it.

The end result was a new app called Recall.

Essentially the program takes a screenshot of your device every three seconds and saves it in an encrypted section of your hard drive.

If you’re struggling to remember something you saw or were doing on your device, you can search Recall and it will bring up a screenshot to help you remember in just seconds.

Addressing potential privacy and intellectual property concerns, Microsoft stressed that the information remains solely on your computer and the app is completely optional.

Live captions

This new tech is extremely helpful in what is an increasingly globalised world.

Live captions can translate and provide captions for live or pre-recorded audio or video from more than 40 languages into English, in real time.

This can be turned on from the quick access section of the Windows task bar.

Essentially it allows you to speak another language without actually being able to do so.

You can even set up a filter for profanities, but let’s hope that’s not needed in an important business meeting.

Cocreator

Cocreator is another way that silicon can assist humans, in this case by helping us creatively.

I tried it out using the famous Microsoft Paint (which has been around since 1985).

I wrote some text, describing what I was trying to draw and then let my artistic juices flow.

My drawing in Microsoft Paint. Picture: Supplied

For those guessing, it was supposed to be a unicorn.

I then adjusted the level of creativity I wanted Cocreator to use, which as you might expect was the maximum.

Cocreator then adjusted my image using the prompts I had input.

The result was quite impressive.

The pretty purple unicorn I made with Cocreator. Picture: Supplied

Copilot

Of all the AI assistant tools, Copilot is probably the one people will use the most.

It can be used across a range of commonly-used Microsoft apps including Word and Excel.

In Word, it can assist you to draft a document, for example with the prompt “write a resume”.

It can also rewrite a document you have already drafted, by adjusting the tone or regenerating it.

The AI can also visualise the information you have listed as a table and summarise documents.

In Excel, Copilot can help with some of the tricky formulas, and even help teach you how to use them.

Copilot is also on Bing, and can link up with plugins like Kayak and OpenTable to help people plan holidays or a night on the turps.

My thoughts Copilot+ PCs

I only had a brief chance to try out the new tech being rolled out with the launch of Copilot+ PCs.

The impression I got is that the new products will help people save time and increase productivity in various ways, especially in a corporate environment.

Companies will of course need to be mindful of privacy concerns as well as how they incorporate and acknowledge the use of AI.

As well as the launch of the new Micorosoft Surface and Surface Pro, Microsoft has also teamed up with its OEM partners Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung to launch Copilot+ PCs.

The new Surface computers are much faster and in a rare move, cheaper, than the previous generations.

At the announcement, it was revealed that the new Surface and Surface Pro can clock a ridiculous 45 trillion of operations per second.

It’s also 20 per cent cheaper, which is always a good thing.