The search feature in Windows 11 works pretty well when we need to find essential system apps. It also usually shows accurate results when we need to access specific parts of the operating system to make specific adjustments or configurations, but if we go beyond these two use cases, its operation leaves much to be desired.

Many years have passed since Microsoft introduced the search feature in Windows, and the truth is that the improvements it has received have been minimal. That could change with future updates that Windows 11 will receive, as a Windows researcher has found references to a very interesting new feature in build 27695.

These links suggest that Microsoft might use artificial intelligence to improve the search functionality in Windows 11 and that it will have hardware acceleration on Copilot+ compatible PCs. It means to function you will need NPU with a minimum performance of 40 TOP, and that this new feature will not reach devices that lack the mentioned component.

How the new AI search will work in Windows 11

First a clarification, I’m not talking about memoriesbut from the traditional Windows 11 search that we find on the taskbar and that we can immediately launch by pressing the Windows key on the keyboard and starting to type.

The new search function will be used artificial intelligence and LLM to achieve interaction based on natural language when performing any search. To simplify its use, this function will be fully automated, this is clear from its description, which says that by accepting we give you permission to download the necessary models.

With this new search, enhanced and powered by artificial intelligence, we will be able to perform much more accurate and advanced searches. For example, we can search for specific words in documents and files stored on our computer, search for projects by name and even search for relevant content in videos and audio files that are related to our search.

I’ll give you an example. Imagine you’ve saved a few multiplayer replays of your favorite game and want to see a specific but you don’t remember exactly what it is. With this advanced search feature, you could enter individual dates to find them and it will find them.

It is a very interesting feature and its application on Windows 11 it would be a success from Microsoft, although it’s nothing new in itself, I’ve already had the chance to experiment with something very similar in NVIDIA ChatRTX, LLM, which runs locally and which also allows you to search and index specific content in videos and create summaries from them.

These changes may already exist in other branches, but in 27695…

Added links to “Smart Media Search”.
Smart media search is available
Search by spoken word in indexed video or audio files. By clicking “I agree” you agree to scan media files…

— Xeno (@XenoPanther) August 30, 2024

AI generated images.