Microsoft adds artificial intelligence capabilities to Paint and Photos in Windows 11

By James On Aug 23, 2023

Microsoft continues to add artificial intelligence to various parts of Windows 11.

Last year was very important for Microsoft and artificial intelligence, and almost all the news of the company was related to the functions related to artificial intelligence technology. Features such as Studio Effects and Copilot have been released for Windows 11 and are expected to be generally available to users in the fall.

Apparently, Microsoft has decided to use artificial intelligence in various parts of Windows 11. It is said that the company is now looking to add AI capabilities to a number of Windows 11 apps, including the Snipping Tool, Photos, and Paint. Some of these features require dedicated hardware such as NPU (Neural Processing Unit) or VPU (Vision Processing Unit), while others can be available on the said operating system without any prerequisites.

Microsoft is said to be working on a new AI feature in Photos that will allow the app to identify objects or people in photos and crop them for use in other graphics applications. This feature has been available in Android and iOS for some time and it is not surprising that Microsoft wants to add such a feature to Windows.

Snipping Tool is expected to be equipped with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology so that Windows can more easily transfer text from images to the clipboard when copying it. The Redmond-based tech giant also plans to offer OCR in the Camera app, so users can easily extract text from documents they’ve photographed.

Finally, Microsoft is testing artificial intelligence integration with Windows 11’s Paint program. Users can ask the app to create a canvas based on criteria they specify; Just like how the Bing chatbot image builder works.

We still don’t know when Microsoft will add new AI-based features to Windows 11 apps. Apparently, these ideas are still in the experimental stages. On the other hand, Microsoft will hold an event on September 21 (30 September 1402) where it will probably unveil new Surface products and make announcements about Windows artificial intelligence.

The next major Windows platform, due in 2024, will be deeply integrated with artificial intelligence. Currently, Windows 11’s AI-based capabilities are somewhat superficial, and the next version of Redmond’s desktop operating system is expected to be the starting point for deeper integration of AI experiences with Windows capabilities.