Microsoft is testing talking avatars for Copilot to see if users feel more at ease chatting with a face instead of just a text box. Our US Editor tried them out, only to find the digital stare was more creepy than comforting.

Dubbed Copilot Portraits, Redmond's AI will offer a choice of 40 avatars to interact with, along with a selection of synthetic voices. Microsoft is trying this out because, while text-based prompts are the norm, many users prefer talking to their bot instead of typing, according to Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI and former co-founder of Google DeepMind.

"We’ve heard from some users that they'd feel more comfortable talking to a face when using voice. So in the US, UK, and Canada, we’re rolling out a new Copilot Labs experiment where you can talk with animated

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