Microsoft adds animated faces to Copilot for voice chats

Microsoft is launching an experimental feature called Copilot Portraits, which adds animated faces to the assistant for voice conversations. In Copilot Labs, users in the US, UK, and Canada have access to 40 stylized avatars that reproduce facial expressions and movements during real-time communication, The Verge reports.

According to Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleiman, Portraits was created in response to feedback from users who felt more comfortable communicating with a "face" rather than just a voice. The user will be able to choose an appropriate portrait that matches their voice to make the interaction more natural.

The feature differs from Copilot Appearances, introduced in the summer, in that it uses stylized human avatars instead of cartoonish images. The technology is based on Microsoft Research's VASA-1 development, which allows you to generate facial expressions, head movements and lip sync from a single image without complex 3D modeling.

Microsoft emphasizes that the portraits are intentionally not photorealistic to avoid possible fraudulent use, and are accompanied by clear indicators of interaction with the AI. Access is restricted to users 18 years of age and older, with daily and session limits in place.

Incidentally, xAI also recently added 3D avatars to its chatbot Grok, including anime characters. Microsoft is taking a cautious approach, given the risks of dangerous interaction scenarios that have already been the subject of investigations into Character.AI.