Computer keyboards are making way for an artificial intelligence chatbot button as Microsoft unveils its first major keyboard redesign in three decades.
Starting this month, some new personal computers running Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system will have a special “Copilot key” that launches the software giant’s AI chatbot.
Getting third-party computer makers to add an AI button to their laptops is Microsoft’s latest move to capitalize on its close partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and become a gateway for AI technology applications. Generative AI.
Although most people now connect to the Internet – and many AI applications – by phone rather than computer, this is a symbolic kickoff to a year that should be competitive, so that tech companies are racing to outdo each other in AI applications, even if they haven’t done so yet. resolved all ethical and legal ramifications.
The New York Times last month sued OpenAI and Microsoft alleging that tools like ChatGPT and Copilot – formerly known as Bing Chat – infringe on copyrighted news articles.
The keyboard redesign will be Microsoft’s biggest change to PC keyboards since the introduction of a special Windows key in the 1990s. Microsoft’s four-square logo has evolved, but the key is present on Windows-oriented keyboards for about three decades.
Placed near the space bar
The newest AI button will be marked with the ribbon-shaped Copilot logo and will be located near the space bar. On some computers it will replace the right “CTRL” key, while on others it will replace a menu key.
Microsoft isn’t the only company offering custom keys. Apple pioneered the concept in the 1980s with its “Command” key marked by a square, looped design (it also featured an Apple logo for a time).
Google has a search button on its Chromebooks and was the first to experiment with an AI-specific button to launch its voice assistant on its now-discontinued Pixelbook.
But Microsoft has a much stronger grip on the broader PC market through its licensing deals with third-party manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell and HP. About 82 percent of all desktop, laptop and workstation computers run Windows, compared with 9 percent for Apple’s in-house operating system and just over 6 percent for Google’s, according to the firm. of market research IDC.
Dell Technologies was the first Thursday to unveil a Copilot key on its latest XPS laptops.
Microsoft has not yet indicated which other computer manufacturers are installing the Copilot button beyond Microsoft’s internal lineup of high-end Surface devices.
Some companies are expected to unveil their new models at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas next week.
