Windows 11's 23H2 update last October brought powerful new AI tools in the form of Copilot, and the 24H2 update added yet more, especially for Copilot+ PCs. Strangely, that second update removed any ability to control your PC in Windows 12.This capability seems destined to be coming back, thankfully. Copilot on Windows can already use the Copilot Vision feature to analyze visual content in a specified program window, and an Insider preview build of Windows 11 recently got wake-word functionality for Copilot in the OS. On Copilot+ PCs, the nifty Click to Do feature has appeared, suggesting and taking actions for highlighted items on your PC screen. These machines also benefit from natural-language AI-assisted semantic search in the Search panel, File Explorer, and Settings.The type of AI that can anticipate a user’s intentions could be even more powerful in Windows 12, though it could incite a Clippy-like backlash. With desktop system components and Windows itself now including built-in support for AI functions like machine learning, it only makes sense to take advantage of it for the operating system. It’s just a matter of balancing intrusion with helpfulness.We saw this with the backlash to the Copilot+ PCs' new Recall feature, which lets you search to find anything you've done on your computer previously. Although Microsoft stated that all the data remains on your local machine encrypted with BitLocker and that it doesn't record sensitive information like passwords or private browsing, security experts raised enough resistance to delay Recall in order to beef up its security. In testing, I found Recall mostly impressive and helpful, particularly in combination with the Click to Do feature.AI technology can also improve back-end things like code stability, security, and update delivery.Windows 12 Will Take Advantage of More AI Hardware:
The statements from Intel and Qualcomm executives above include mentions of NPUs. Indeed, AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and Qualcomm all discussed AI hardware at Computex 2025.Much of the AI that I believe is coming to Windows 12 will benefit from NPUs for local AI processing, such as machine learning. PCs that lack them might fall behind when Windows 12 rolls around and might not even enjoy official support. Even with the Copilot+ PCs, on-device AI functions are so far limited to things like image generation, the aforementioned Recall, and video call effects. I expect more AI functionality to use local processing in the future rather than Microsoft's servers. On-device AI processing is a trend for Apple, Google, and Microsoft devices, with its faster performance and lower environmental impact. Image, source: Microsoft via Google, Inet