One of the most convenient new features that has been tied to generative AI in recent weeks is Circle to Search, first appearing in the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 family of phones. Of course, it’s worth making clear that the feature is a Google thing. Not wanting to leave the initiative to the internet search giant, Microsoft appears to be doing something similar with its Edge browser. The upcoming feature though has a name with a more-than-obvious inspiration, being called Circle to Copilot.
According to Windows Report, this Circle to Copilot has been spotted in the Canary version of Microsoft Edge. This includes a mouse gesture support for said circling. Although from the demo, it seems both a bit less direct in terms of the way it works, and more involved with its answers at the same time.
Unlike Circle to Search, Circle to Copilot adds the thing you circled to the Copilot sidebar on the desktop version of Microsoft Edge. You’ll then have to type in your prompt. In the case of the demo, it’s asking what the circled image is. Which then results in the usual long-ish response that you’d expect from a text-based generative AI chatbot.
Despite their very similar names, there is enough in terms of differences between the two for their use cases. Google’s Circle to Search may use AI, but all it does is, as the name suggests, run a search on the internet for the image, or translate text when applicable. It doesn’t then launch Bard and add the circled item into your chatbot experience. Circle to Copilot, on the other hand, looks to be doing the latter, but obviously using Microsoft’s own Copilot.
For now, Microsoft has not officially announced Circle to Copilot, and there’s no indication of when, or indeed if, it will actually happen. Though it appearing in a Canary build of the Edge browser is a pretty good sign that it will be a matter of time.
(Source: Windows Report)
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