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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Microsoft is launching a new Windows AI Labs program.
- It offers early access to AI features, starting with Paint.
- The program is available only to select users via an invite in Paint.
Those of you who'd like to check out upcoming AI tools and tricks in Windows may be interested in a new program from Microsoft. Known as Windows AI Labs, this one invites you to check out experimental AI features, with the first test subject being Microsoft Paint.
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The agreement for this one says that it's "designed to provide Microsoft and selected participants with an opportunity to engage in ongoing evaluation of pre-release versions of Microsoft Paint. Your early feedback will help shape these features for the rest of the audience."
How to qualify and join
To qualify, you need to enable optional diagnostic data. For that, head to Settings in Windows 11, select Privacy & security, click Diagnostics & feedback, and then turn on the switch for "Send optional diagnostic data."
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Next, open Paint. A notification may pop up asking if you'd like to join the program. If not, click the Settings icon and you may see a new section for Windows AI Labs asking if you want to try and share the latest AI-powered tools. To proceed, click the Sign up button, and you'll be good to go. Microsoft promises that it will notify you when new features are ready for you to explore.
Not interested? The program is strictly opt-in, so you can simply click the "Not interested" to avoid further notices.
Hit or miss invites
At this point, though, the invite seems to be hit or miss. I was able to get access to the program on one of my Windows 11 PCs but not on my other two. Windows AI Labs was spotted last Thursday by Windows Latest, which reported that Microsoft is sending the invite to a few select testers only.
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"The Windows AI Lab is a pilot acceleration program for validating novel AI feature ideas in Windows," Mike Harsh, partner director of product management at Microsoft, told The Verge. "The program focuses on rapid customer feedback on feature usability, customer interest, and market fit."
Infusing AI into products
Like so many other tech companies, Microsoft has been on a tear trying to infuse AI into its core products and services. Naturally, that includes Windows. Beyond building Copilot into Windows 10 and 11, the company has been adding AI skills to several built-in apps, including Notepad, the Snipping Tool, and Paint.
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In early 2024, Microsoft enhanced Paint with an AI-driven tool called Cocreator. Here, you describe the image you want and choose a particular style such as Charcoal, Ink Sketch, Watercolor, or Photorealistic. In response, Paint will generate the image for you, which you can then edit and revise.
But Paint has been picking up other types of skills, most notably those usually found in high-end image editors like Photoshop. In 2023, Microsoft added layers to Paint so that you can create and edit different images, text, and other elements separately from each other. And just last week, Paint was updated with a project files feature that allows you to save your work in progress with all layers intact.
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With Windows AI Labs still in its nascent stages, we'll have to see which new AI features arrive in Paint for testing and which other apps Microsoft chooses as test subjects.
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