Microsoft’s Mico is a ‘Clippy’ for the AI era (techcrunch.com)

Microsoft introduced Mico — an expressive, customizable avatar for Copilot — as part of its fall Copilot update, positioning it as a friendly, visual “face” for consumer AI. Mico is enabled by default in Copilot’s voice mode (opt-out available), initially rolling out in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and can save conversational memories and learn from feedback. The update also adds “Learn Live” tutoring that guides users through concepts rather than just answering, a “Real Talk” personality mode that mirrors a user’s style while maintaining its own perspective, multi-user Copilot chats, long-term memory, and connectors to email/cloud apps. There’s even an Easter egg: tap Mico repeatedly and it becomes Clippy. The move underscores a broader industry trend toward anthropomorphized AI companions (ChatGPT and others already offer visual/voice experiences) and signals Microsoft’s push to make Copilot a consumer-facing assistant embedded across products, including an evolving “AI browser” in Edge that can see tabs, summarize/compare content, and act on bookings or forms. Technical implications include increased reliance on long-term memory and app connectors — boosting utility but raising data-privacy and safety trade-offs — and UX questions about engagement vs. trust. Microsoft emphasizes not optimizing for screen time, but anthropomorphic design and “pushback” behaviors must be balanced with guardrails to avoid reinforcement of false beliefs or other harmful interactions.