In Windows 11, incoming changes are often hidden behind the scenes of the operating system, and another one has just been discovered – and it's a big one involving AI.
Windows Central came across a tweet from regular leaker PhantomOfEarth on X, who was poking around Windows 11 preview build 26016 (in the Canary channel).
Hidden in Canary 26016: A settings page for AI components. Currently incomplete and only shows the contents of the system components page.vivetool /enable /id:47688503 pic.twitter.com/VfAZkaa367December 13, 2023
PhantomOfEarth discovered a settings page for AI components that, as mentioned, is hidden, but can be enabled using a Windows configuration tool (ViVeTool).
This lists system components related to AI functionality, although it doesn't do anything when enabled (unsurprisingly it's tucked away in the background for a reason, namely that it's not working yet).
The leaker also found strings related to the page, including: “View and remove AI components installed on Windows.”
So it looks like this panel in Settings (under System) will not only allow you to view all AI-related system components, but also remove them if you wish.
Analysis: a necessary choice?
The AI components listed in the PhantomOfEarth screenshot include Windows Security, the Microsoft Store, Phone Link and Xbox Game Bar – suggesting these will be fitted with AI extras at some point? Or they could just be placeholders, which is probably a more likely story – although for example we could certainly see the Microsoft Store being expanded with AI (that suggests apps you might like based on your PC usage or previous downloads) .
The latter brings up a point that some Windows 11 users may be concerned about, namely privacy and what exactly AI could do in terms of profiling you, and building a deeper picture of your likes, dislikes and so on, and extrapolate from that. We should note at this point that this discussion is obviously entirely theoretical, but the general point is that some people don't want AI in their operating system – either for privacy reasons or because they may not trust it.
It makes sense, then, for Microsoft to accommodate those who want to remove AI capabilities and provide those removal options. Not that the presence of this settings page during testing means anything anymore – it can be dropped in the preview. It's not even present in preview builds yet, it's hidden in the background.
Which brings us to another point: it's very early work on this feature. Chances are that a wider range of AI functionality – and these options – won't fully debut until the next generation of Windows is released. (That will theoretically be next year, although we're still not sure if this will be Windows 12 – although there are big plans in the pipeline for AI anyway, going by the latest rumors).
An interesting observation that Windows Central makes here is that we don't know how far the AI removal capabilities will extend – and whether that includes getting rid of Copilot? Yes, Copilot is currently in the cloud (so not on your PC anyway, or at least not the 'brain', just the interface), but Microsoft apparently has plans to make the AI local – and if so, is it possible that it could be made removable.
We doubt it, mind you, since Copilot is such a central aspect of the operating system – but at least some components related to AI should be feasible to remove if this new finding goes anywhere.