Microsoft extends AI functions of Windows 11 to other apps such as Paint

Microsoft is making a new preview version of Windows 11 available to beta testers, which gives the Paint drawing program its own Copilot button for additional AI functions. Currently, users of Paint under Windows 11 are only offered the "Image Creator", which can be used to create image content based on an AI prompt. In future, the Image Creator will be replaced by a dedicated Copilot button that offers additional artificial intelligence (AI) functions.

This is part of the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073 (KB5050090), which is available in the Windows Insider channels Canary and Dev for Windows 11. At the beginning of November, Microsoft Notepad and Paint had already received more AI functions, which are now combined and expanded in a Copilot button. Clicking on this button opens a menu that offers Cocreator, Image Creator, the generative eraser and AI-supported background removal.

While the Image Creator creates an image purely according to text specifications, the Cocreator also allows you to add to a sketch that the user has already started. Here too, however, the AI follows literal specifications. The generative eraser works like the "magic eraser" already familiar from Android smartphones. After selecting the area to be erased, the function fills the area to be erased with image information adapted to the background.

AI credit and Copilot Plus PC required

However, if you want to use the Paint Image Creator in Windows 11 as it currently stands, you will need a subscription. This is because Microsoft charges for the use of AI. The Windows company is currently proposing "AI credits", "which are included in a Microsoft 365 subscription". This is also likely to be the case in the upcoming Paint versions with the new Copilot button.

Another restriction is that the Cocreator within Paint (from version 11.2412.271.0) is only available on so-called Copilot Plus PCs, as Microsoft writes in the blog post. This means that some AI functions are restricted to systems with powerful NPUs (Neural Processing Units) such as Snapdragon X processors from Qualcomm, Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) or AMD Ryzen AI 300.

Such Copilot Plus PCs will also receive Microsoft's advanced Windows search in future when the current preview version is also rolled out widely. This AI search is based on semantic indexing and also allows image searches in the cloud, for example. This will be possible directly via the search function within Windows Explorer, but is probably reserved for Microsoft's own cloud service (OneDrive).

(fds)