Do you remember Clippy? He returned as an AI with real emotions.

More than two decades after his disappearance, Clippy is back in a version adapted to new generations. Microsoft has revived the concept of a fun, smart assistant that appears on the screen and helps us solve any problem. The difference is that now he does it through Miko, an animated character with a voice controlled AI co-pilot.

Microsoft has announced a major update for Copilot that brings new features and tools to improve our lives. The tech giant used the phrase “human-centric AI” to offer you a companion that can help you think, plan, or dream. This is where it happens Miko is an expressive, customizable and warm character. which will try to position itself as the new Clippy.

Mico is activated when we use Copilot voice mode and responds in real time. Character It can take different forms and have facial expressions. to convey emotions to the user, such as sadness, joy, surprise, etc. Microsoft points out that Mico can create a friendly and engaging experience by reducing friction when communicating with AI.

“You can see him, he reacts when you talk to him, and if you’re talking about something sad, you’ll almost immediately see his facial expression react,” said Jacob Andreu, director of product and development for Microsoft AI, in an interview Edge. “All the technology fades into the background and you just start talking to this cute ball and building a connection with it.”

Although Microsoft has already demonstrated its new character, it was only available at an experimental level. Starting today, Mico will be activated for all users from the US as part of a campaign to promote the use of voice in Windows 11. While Microsoft hasn’t mentioned whether it will launch its Assistant in other countries, it will likely arrive soon in Mexico and the rest of Latin America with support in Spanish.

Miko sympathizes and supports, but does not fawn.

Mustafa Suleiman, Microsoft’s head of artificial intelligence, said the new Copilot update remains true to the brand’s values. The DeepMind co-founder has already mentioned the dangers of making AI so “human” that it confuses people. Suleiman said that the co-pilot Designed to be compassionate and supportive, not sycophantic.so sometimes he rejects us (respectfully).

Besides Miko, Microsoft AI gets memory tuningso now you can keep track of your thoughts and unfinished tasks. As we see with ChatGPT and Gemini, users will be able to ask the co-pilot to remember important information so as not to repeat instructions. It also offers the option to retrieve past conversations or connect services such as Gmail, Calendar, Outlook, OneDrive and others.

Changes to Copilot will be available from today for all users. If you want to use Mico for voice chat, you’ll have to wait a bit or activate a VPN and sign in with a US Microsoft account to access it.