Feeling lonely? Microsoft Copilot can now listen to your every word watch screen (www.theregister.com)

Microsoft is rolling Copilot deeper into Windows 11 with two new opt-in features: Copilot Voice — an always-listening wake-word interface ("Hey Copilot") — and Copilot Vision, which can inspect your desktop and even whole Office documents (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) to answer questions or produce content. Early Insider tests show you must enable listening and click a Copilot Vision button to let it "see" the screen; voice responses are read aloud and currently don’t show text output in real time. At present the assistant often narrates what to do rather than directly manipulating apps or settings, though Microsoft is already demoing Copilot Actions and a new agent called Manus that aim to perform multi-step tasks by interacting with desktop and web apps. The move is significant because it pushes tighter AI integration into core OS workflows — replacing the taskbar search box with a Copilot hub, offering accessibility benefits, and promising automated task completion — but it raises clear privacy, security and UX questions. Microsoft says the features use existing Windows APIs and won’t grant Copilot blanket access to content, but past controversies (e.g., Recall) and the always-listening model amplify concerns. Rollout will be gradual (Insiders first) with a narrow set of use cases and no firm consumer timeline; the effort underscores both the productivity potential and the risks of hastily embedding autonomous agents into everyday system controls.