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The Microsoft Clippy revival might not be official, but it’s hard to ignore what’s happening. With the new Copilot Appearance feature, Microsoft is giving its AI assistant a floating animated face. It reacts while you talk, blinks, emotes, and even tries to look helpful. It’s not Clippy with googly eyes, but it’s pretty close.
This strategy feels familiar. In the 90s, Microsoft introduced Clippy to make Office feel friendlier. People mocked it, but the idea stuck. Now, with Copilot Appearance, Microsoft is circling back to that same concept, make the assistant look approachable, even “cute,” so users engage more with it. Instead of a paperclip with eyebrows, we get a bouncy white blob with a friendly stare.
The company says the feature enhances voice conversations and adds non-verbal cues to Copilot. But the bigger picture? Microsoft wants us to treat Copilot like a coworker or companion, not just a tool. Giving it a face helps that illusion, even if it’s just a floating cartoon.
The Microsoft Clippy revival may not be literal, but the philosophy behind it clearly is. Whether this makes Copilot more useful or just more distracting remains to be seen. But if it starts offering unsolicited advice about your Excel formatting, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The post Microsoft Clippy revival begins with Copilot’s new animated face appeared first on Phandroid.
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This strategy feels familiar. In the 90s, Microsoft introduced Clippy to make Office feel friendlier. People mocked it, but the idea stuck. Now, with Copilot Appearance, Microsoft is circling back to that same concept, make the assistant look approachable, even “cute,” so users engage more with it. Instead of a paperclip with eyebrows, we get a bouncy white blob with a friendly stare.
The company says the feature enhances voice conversations and adds non-verbal cues to Copilot. But the bigger picture? Microsoft wants us to treat Copilot like a coworker or companion, not just a tool. Giving it a face helps that illusion, even if it’s just a floating cartoon.
The Microsoft Clippy revival may not be literal, but the philosophy behind it clearly is. Whether this makes Copilot more useful or just more distracting remains to be seen. But if it starts offering unsolicited advice about your Excel formatting, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The post Microsoft Clippy revival begins with Copilot’s new animated face appeared first on Phandroid.
More...
