微软为Edge浏览器推出了名为Copilot Mode的实验性AI功能，旨在提供更智能、更便捷的浏览体验。该功能允许用户通过自然语音指令进行网页导航，实现“解放双手”的操作。同时，Copilot Mode具备跨标签页的上下文感知能力，并能以弹窗形式回答用户关于当前页面的问题。未来，它还将能够代表用户执行预订等任务，并根据浏览历史提供个性化建议。这一革新预示着AI驱动的浏览器将成为比传统浏览器更主动、更个性化的在线助手，有望在日益激烈的浏览器市场中占据一席之地。

🌟 **Edge浏览器引入Copilot Mode，开启AI驱动的实验性功能**：微软在Edge浏览器中推出Copilot Mode，这是一项可选的实验性功能，集成了代理式AI（agentic AI）特性。它通过理解上下文、响应语音指令以及提供页面相关信息，旨在提升用户的浏览效率和交互体验。

🗣️ **自然语音控制与上下文感知，解放双手浏览**：Copilot Mode支持用户使用自然语言语音指令来导航网页，实现真正意义上的“hands-free”浏览。此外，该功能还具备跨越用户所有打开标签页的上下文感知能力，能够更智能地理解用户的意图和需求。

🤖 **AI助手弹窗与未来任务自动化**：Copilot Mode以弹窗形式出现，可以即时回答用户关于当前浏览页面的问题。更令人期待的是，该功能即将支持代表用户执行复杂任务，如预订酒店或餐厅，并能记住用户的浏览历史，提供个性化的搜索和内容推荐。

🚀 **AI浏览器的崛起与市场竞争**：随着新的推理模型支持更复杂的任务，以及潜在的浏览器市场格局变化（如Google可能出售Chrome），AI驱动的浏览器正迎来发展机遇。它们被定位为主动、个性化的在线助手，而非静态的信息访问门户，预示着新一轮浏览器大战的开启。

🔒 **隐私与安全考量，用户可控的AI体验**：尽管AI浏览器能提供高度个性化的服务，但也伴随着隐私风险。微软强调Copilot Mode是“opt-in”（可选加入）的，用户可以随时关闭，并且会清晰显示Copilot正在查看或监听。对于涉及敏感信息的任务，如预订，Copilot会请求用户授权访问浏览历史和密码凭据，确保用户对数据的控制权。

Microsoft is jumping on the AI browser bandwagon with new Copilot features for Edge.

On Monday, Microsoft introduced Copilot Mode for Edge, an opt-in experimental feature with agentic AI features. (If you've been nodding and smiling every time you hear the words "agentic AI," we have an explainer for you.) This includes contextual awareness across open tabs, natural voice commands for navigating the web hands-free, and Copilot in the form of a pop-up chatbot that can answer questions about the page you're on.

Coming soon, Copilot Mode can take over your browser and perform tasks on your behalf, such as booking reservations. Copilot Mode will also soon remember your browsing history and offer suggestions based on what you've been searching.

Copilot Mode in Edge joins Perplexity Comet, ChatGPT Agent, and other AI assistants that can browse the web on the user's behalf. New reasoning models can perform more complex tasks, which is fueling the advent of autonomous agents for shopping, managing your calendar, and more. This, plus the fact that Google might be forced to sell off Chrome, has suddenly created new potential for AI-powered browsers to compete with traditional browsers.

Think of an AI browser as a proactive, personalized assistant for handling tasks online as opposed to a static portal for manually accessing information you need. At least, that's how tech companies and AI labs are selling it, as the so-called browser wars heat up. Meanwhile, heightened security risks, incompatibility roadblocks (with sites not optimized for agents), and deep-rooted browsing habits could threaten widespread adoption.

Plus, all this hyper-personalization comes with higher privacy risks, since AI browsers collect lots of data. As Microsoft asserted, Copilot Mode is opt-in only, and the data it collects is controlled in your personalization settings. You can turn Copilot Mode off whenever you want, and "there will always be clear, visual cues on your browser when Copilot is viewing or listening," said the announcement. With the more involved AI features like booking reservations coming soon, Microsoft says Copilot requires your permission to access browsing history and password credentials.

How to try Copilot Mode

Copilot Mode is free... for now. Microsoft says the new features are free for a limited time, but it doesn't specify for how long. If you want to try it out, you'll need to install the Edge browser on Windows or Mac. From there, go to aka.ms/copilot-mode to opt into the experiment. Once opted in, you can toggle on Copilot Mode within your Edge settings.

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Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.