Microsoft has been going all in on its AI efforts for over a year now. Its Copilot AI chatbot has been put into nearly all aspects of its products and services. In just one example, the company just made its Copilot for Security service generally available for all Azure customers this week.
However, the AI explosion at the company has not been a huge presence in its Xbox gaming division in the last year. That may change soon. The Verge has confirmed with a Microsoft spokesperson that it is working on a prototype for an "Xbox Support Virtual Agent". Basically, it's an animated AI chatbot that will "query Xbox Support topics with voice or text" from users, based on "information from existing Xbox Support pages."
This new animated Xbox AI chatbot sounds an awful lot like Clippy, the somewhat notorious, but now loved, digital assistant that popped into existence if it felt that a person needed help with an Office file in the late 1990s. Indeed, The Verge states that the current version of the Xbox chatbot asks its users "How can I help you today?”
The chatbot can reportedly not only answer questions from users, based on Microsoft's Xbox support documentation, it can even send out game refunds if needed. Today's report says that the company has been testing the chatbot internally with people asking questions to the chatbot about its Minecraft Realms game server hosting service.
The report does not reveal when this new Xbox chatbot might be made available for a public launch. When and if that happens, it's likely that Xbox Insider members will get the first crack at trying it out.
In the future, The Verge says that chatbots could also be used to help with Microsoft's Xbox safety and moderation services and possibly add them into Xbox games so players could get some tips and support from the chatbot.
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