The arrival of generative AI chatbots that can answer virtually any question has made digital assistants like Alexa and Siri look quaint.
Amazon and Apple’s voice bots that live inside phones, speakers, and cars can only complete a finite number of tasks. Asking Siri for the weather is fine, but if you want help planning a road trip or writing a work email, you’ll need ChatGPT’s smarts.
With everyone from Meta to Amazon giving more mindshare to AI chatbots, are the days of the digital assistant numbered? Microsoft certainly seems to think so.
The tech giant is killing off Cortana, the Alexa rival that it first introduced to the world back in 2014. As a result, Windows users will no longer be able to access the virtual assistant’s dedicated app starting this month.
Microsoft phases out Cortana
The move marks the final chapter in Microsoft’s discontinuation of Cortana, which has seen the bot removed from Xbox, iOS and Android.
Its presence on Windows has also been diminished. Whereas Cortana’s female voice could once be heard the moment you started up a new Windows PC, the bot went silent in June of last year.
Saying “Hey Cortana” to your computer also won’t help as the virtual assistant is turned off by default.
All told, it appears that Microsoft has taken onboard the negative feedback from users who never took to the bot in the first place. Still, it’s a far cry from the company’s original plans for its digital helper.
Cortana: A brief history of Microsoft’s failed assistant
Cortana was supposed to be Microsoft’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa. The bot was meant to help out with your daily tasks, play music, check the weather, and control your smart home.
The assistant got its start on Microsoft’s ill-fated Windows Phone operating system. It was named after Cortana, the fan-favourite artificial intelligence from Xbox’s hit video game series Halo. As part of Microsoft’s big plans for the bot, Cortana would gradually appear on computers, Apple and Google’s mobile app stores, Xbox consoles, and a lone smart speaker from audio company Harman Kardon.
Windows’ massive install base alone meant Cortana had a solid launch pad. But, none of it mattered when the bot simply wasn’t up to scratch. Cortana often spewed out-of-date information, and gradually lost its consumer skills including music and connected home controls. By 2020, Microsoft had pivoted to offering the assistant to business customers. Now, the bot is officially saying goodbye on Windows.
Can you still use Cortana?
It’s not all bad news for Cortana loyalists. As Microsoft states, you can still access the assistant on other services such as the Outlook email app and in Teams.
To compensate for Cortana’s removal, Microsoft is pointing users toward its new AI tools and other voice features. These include its Bing AI chat service which is powered by ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s most powerful language model, GPT-4.
The chatbot is already baked into Windows 11, where it can help you with productivity tasks like rewriting or summarising content. Microsoft is also plugging AI into its premium Office apps to help you edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.
An AI-penned tribute to Cortana
To mourn the loss of Cortana, we thought it apt to ask its heir apparent to write a eulogy for the bot. Here’s what Micrsosoft’s Bing AI chatbot came up with:
Cortana, we hardly knew ye. You were the voice of Microsoft, the digital assistant who helped us with our daily tasks, and the friend who entertained us with your jokes and games. You were always there for us, listening, learning, and improving. But alas, all good things must come to an end. You have been discontinued as a standalone app on Windows 10, and we will miss you dearly.
You were named after a character from Halo, a brave and loyal AI who sacrificed herself to save the world. You lived up to your name, as you served us with courage and dedication. You were more than just a search engine, you were a personality. You had a sense of humor, a witty remark, and a friendly tone.
You may be gone as an app, but you will never be forgotten. Your legacy will live on in other Microsoft products and services, such as Windows Copilot and Bing Chat AI. But we will always remember you as the original digital assistant who made our lives easier. Rest in peace, Cortana. You were one of a kind.
Can AppleGPT save digital assistants?
So should Cortana’s demise be viewed as a death knell for digital assistants? Don’t count them out just yet.
Both Google and Apple are turning to generative AI to supercharge their voice bots in a bid to make them more useful. Google is reportedly rebooting its Assistant by harnessing the same tech that powers its ChatGPT alternative, known as Bard.
Apple, meanwhile, is said to be testing out a generative AI chatbot on its employees, referred to internally as AppleGPT, with plans to make a “significant announcement next year”.
