Clippy gets AI upgrade with ChatGPT on Windows 11

Microsoft Clippy is making an unofficial comeback with a ChatGPT upgrade for the Windows 11 desktop. Clippy was the digital assistant that the software giant designed to help users get the most out of the suite of Office apps. The feature has been discontinued for many years. However, thanks to a non-Microsoft developer (FireCube via Windows Central), there is a new version of Clippy in the form of an app that connects with the ChatGPT AI to assist users with complete answers to queries using natural language.

The app has been designed by FireCube Studios, and it’s free to download and install from the Microsoft Store on Windows 11 as well as on Windows 10. However, since this is an open-source project, the code is also available on GitHub.

The preview of the Clippy app uses the OpenAI ChatGPT language model version 3.5. The only caveat is that you have to purchase an OpenAI API key to connect the app with ChatGPT and make it functional. (The developer notes that another version is in the works that don’t require a key from Open AI.)

Once you install and connect Clippy to ChatGPT, you can ask virtually anything using natural language, and the assistant will respond similarly to asking a question on Bing Chat or Google Bard. You can ask questions about any topic or how to do something on Windows 11, and the AI assistant will outline the steps. However, this version of Clippy won’t execute commands or change system settings on your behalf.

Clippy is similar to what Microsoft plans to do with the upcoming Windows Copilot assistant for Windows 11. The Copilot is a new chatbot AI integration for the operating system that combines the Bing Chat AI experience and third-party plugins to help users with complex questions, rewrites, summarizations, and explain content without opening the browser. The biggest difference is that Windows Copilot will also be able to take actions, customize settings, and seamlessly connect across applications.

Alongside Clippy, the developer says he plans to bring back other characters, such as Bob, or update classic Clippy to a more modern design.