What is Windows 11 'AI Explorer'? Everything you need to know about Microsoft's upcoming defining AI PC feature (including it always watching you)

Horrifying privacy implications aside, AI has really become the new cryptocurrency.

Don't get me wrong, both technologies are interesting, but it's tiring to see both be forced into applications that functioned just fine without them.

So, how will this work and comply with laws regarding its use in a medical institution?

What about its use in a company that has extremely valuable trade secrets that need to be kept that way?

What about the military?

Wouldn't this make for an excellent target to harvest data for hackers?

I wonder if Win 11 LTSC will leave it out.

Yep, that shit won't be running on my computers.

As worse and worse win11 features are unveiled it’s so funny to see these posts slowly filled with more “yeah i just switched to linux” comments.

Honestly I'm already not a big fan of Windows 10 so if Microsoft tries to force me to download Windows 11 with all these nonsense AI features that spy on you I'm just gonna switch to Linux

Everything you need to know

Is to delete windows 11

yeah, no thanks so fucking very much

No fuckin thanks…

Bring back Clippy

So they disable this in EU, right?

Useless bloatware. And then they added AI.

Yep, the AI will be watching, including porn. (not confirmed since not out)

The Eye

(It knows you, it sees all that you do) (You cant hide) (....) (You thought so much about whether or not you Could, that you didn't think about if you should) (quite a scary thing) (to be so fully Known) (I hope that there is going to be a way to disable that)

For the average user, with maybe a little bit of IT knowledge but doesn't work in IT, what can we do for ourselves and our families other than go to win 11 eventually?

If I'm reading this correctly this runs locally and will requirean NPU, so would not be present or working without AI dedicated hardware?

It honestly sounds useful and I would be a little excited to use it, but I imagine Microsoft will collect the data in some way which would be bad as it pretty much records your screen all the time (I somehow doubt all the info the AI collects will be actually stored locally)?

Hopefuly one day there will be a point when a similar software will be developed that runs 100% locally, storing the data locally and have no internet connectivity and just be a useful tool.

Good news is that unless you have Qualcomm CPU (or one with integrated NPU in the long run) you are safe from it for now

Honestly I think windows is so fucked in terms of market share and it seems like they are kind of just pre-emptively ceding the battle to linux intentionally or not.

Yeah people have been waiting for years for linux to eat windows for lunch and it hasn’t happened yet but I am convinced that linux becoming massively more practical and easy to use for gaming (Steam deck being a good catalyst) in the last couple of years has pushed things past a tipping point. Gaming might not make up the outsized chunk of desktop usage, but gaming is where people experiment, try new things, learn software inside and out and it is where people are most inspired to contribute and build and polish out the annoying little details of complex systems.

Yeah Microsoft will have its walled moats around entire sectors of business indefinitely into the future, and that probably is where most of the consistent money is, but I think Microsoft shitting the bed with Windows 11 so hard is creating the rosiest forecast for the future of Linux desktops I have ever seen in my life.

These twin factors converging has got me bullish af on Linux in the near to mid term.

Let’s fuckinnn gooooooo

So I'm trying to figure out a way to jip Microsoft. We've already got a way to activate windows for free, but LTSC images need to be available - because that's where we get away from Microsoft's bullshit.

Unless Microsoft removes access to DISM and gp, we'll still be able to cut off that "always online" limb.

yeah right, that data definitely won't be sent to microsoft.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

It's an open secret that Microsoft is gearing up to supercharge Windows 11 this summer with next-gen AI capabilities that will enable the OS to be context aware across any apps and interfaces, as well as remember everything you do on your PC to enhance user productivity and search.

These new capabilities are set to ship as part of a new app internally called "AI Explorer," which I'm told will be unveiled during Microsoft's special Windows event on May 20.

The feature is also said to be exclusive to devices powered by Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X series chips, at least at first, as Intel and AMD play catchup in the NPU race.

AI Explorer is able to do more than just remember the things you do on your computer, it's also able to analyze what's currently on-screen and provide contextual suggestions and tasks based on what it can see.

This capability is called Screen Understanding, and I'm told one of the big selling points of AI Explorer is that it's supposed to work across any app, with no developer input required.

The existence of Rewind.ai proves that this is a concept that can be done, and Microsoft is essentially building its own version into Windows 11 that offloads the resources required for such a feature onto NPUs to keep the load away from the CPU.

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Thanks, but I'm still sticking with Windows 7.