Blog

The tech community has seen a lot of developments in the generative AI space this year—from the launch of GPT-4-powered Bing to Google’s PaLM 2 LLM. Now, it appears that Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and AI in general—will allow it to power its long-running tools like Paint with generative AI as well.

According to a report by WindowsCentral, the Redmond-based tech giant is experimenting with bringing generative AI technology to its Paint app on Windows 11. The publication’s sources suggest that this integration could be similar to how the new Bing Image Creator works. This implies that you might also have options to generate images and art by submitting text-based prompts.

The source also further hinted that Microsoft could also be adding generative AI capabilities to other Windows 11 apps—like Photos and Snipping Tool. And, according to the report, your hardware might or might not need an NPU (neural processing unit) and VPU (visual processing unit) for this functionality to work.

WindowsCentral notes that in the Photos app the AI-powered functionality would be similar to iOS. This means that you will be able to take a photo of a person or object, and then use the AI to remove the background from the image, and then the subject can be imported into other apps.

The Snipping Tool is reportedly going to get an OCR reading feature, which could make it easier to recognize text and copy it to the Windows 11 clipboard.

It still remains to be seen when or if Microsoft will integrate these features into a public build of Windows 11. But until then, the company is expected to make several AI-centric announcements and launch new hardware—including new Surface products—at its September 21 event next month.