A massive Windows 11 AI feature may launch next week despite privacy concerns

By Judy Sanhz May 14, 2024

Privacy and security page in Windows 11 settings showing Recall and snapshots AI option. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Windows 11 continues to build a large toolset of AI features, but the one rumored to soon launch may be the biggest change yet — especially when it comes to your PC’s privacy. Windows Latest reports that in Build 26212, the Windows 11 AI integration is named Recall and can be found on the Privacy & Security page in settings (via Albacore on X).

The concern is due to its privacy toggle. According to the latest build, you can record everything on your screen to help you better find something you were working on or searching for. The positive side is that it can help you find the report you edited when you can’t remember where you saved it by accessing the timeline interface. It will also help users with their browsing history. For example, if you searched for how to use WhatsApp Web, but can’t remember which browser you used or what site the information was on, AI Explorer (or Recall, as it may be named) can find the information for you.

As useful as that sound, the privacy concerns are obvious. If your PC is aware of everything single thing you do and feeds it into an AI model, Microsoft will need to be very careful about how it talks about the feature. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be surprised if Windows started nagging users for specific AI requirements. It’s good news, of course, that you can toggle the feature off, but it may be turned on by default.

Beyond the privacy concerns, it’s still unclear about what the feature will be called. While the test build shows the words Recall & snapshots, the fact the “snapshots” is not capitalized indicates that it’s part of the integrations and not the name. When it’s finally launched, it could be called Recall AI, AI Explorer, or something else entirely.

There are rumors that the AI Explorer app will launch next week at Microsoft Build, the company’s developer conference, so we won’t have to wait long to see it all revealed.

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Judy Sanhz is a Digital Trends computing writer covering all computing news. Loves all operating systems and devices.

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