Once upon a time, Microsoft had Clippy—the polarizing animated paperclip assistant that helped (or annoyed) Office users. Now, the company is once again dabbling in giving its AI a more humanlike touch. Microsoft is testing a new visual interface for Copilot, its AI assistant, giving it a reactive, animated “face” that responds to user input with facial expressions and gestures. The early preview, resembling a kind of expressive teardrop or bean, is currently being rolled out to a limited number of users.
Microsoft’s intent is to make interacting with Copilot more natural and expressive, particularly for users engaging in voice-based conversations. According to Microsoft’s official description of the feature, this visual experiment aims to bring non-verbal communication into the mix, using real-time facial reactions and speech animations to accompany verbal exchanges. You can check if you’ve been included in this test by opening Copilot, clicking the microphone icon, then heading into settings (via the gear icon) and toggling the “appearance” option on or off.
This effort to humanize digital assistants isn’t new territory for Microsoft. From the much-maligned Office Assistant (which included Clippy) to the cartoonish avatars of Microsoft Bob, the company has long experimented with anthropomorphic designs in user interfaces. However, not all attempts have been successful—Tay, Microsoft’s AI chatbot launched on Twitter in 2016, was famously shut down after being quickly manipulated by internet trolls. Microsoft has since taken a more cautious approach to personality-driven AI, and Copilot has shifted from its initially bubbly Bing persona to a more measured and utilitarian tone.
Still, the decision to bring expressive animation back suggests Microsoft sees value in making AI feel a bit more alive—particularly for casual, creative, or assistive use cases. Emojis and animated typing indicators have already been part of Copilot’s toolkit for conveying mood or intent, and this update is a step further in blending interface with character. For now, the new face is limited to consumer accounts—business users on Microsoft 365 won’t see it yet.
In some ways, this mirrors trends in other tech cultures—Japan, for instance, has embraced mascot-like avatars in various AI and digital service roles. Whether this new Copilot face becomes widely adopted or joins Clippy in the vault of quirky experiments remains to be seen.
