- It has been stated that Windows 11's Gaming Copilot AI can capture gameplay and send it back to Microsoft.
- Gaming Copilot is a beta version of the AI feature in the Game Bar.
- There is confusion as to whether this privacy concern is valid or not, but it is clear that Gaming Copilot can (slightly) affect your framerate in games.
Bye Microsoft constantly makes efforts to improve games on Windows 11most recently with a new “full screen mode” for handheld devices, as well as an AI gaming assistant, the latter of which is currently mired in some controversy.
How Wccftech spottedaccording to the poster on ResetEra On the forum, Gaming Copilot in Windows 11, by default, can actively monitor and capture gameplay and send it back to Microsoft for “model training” (AI). The poster shows a screenshot of the “train model on text” option being enabled by default, raising privacy concerns.
However, there seems to be some disagreement as to whether this is a valid accusation against Microsoft or not, so much so that the admins have locked the thread on the forum.
For now, we should take this statement with great caution and assume that any training data is only sent back to Microsoft if you actually use Gaming Copilot (with the appropriate options). Or maybe it's some kind of bug (remember, Gaming Copilot is still in beta).
As another ResetEra visitor noted, Microsoft's Gaming Copilot FAQ clearly states that “screenshots are not saved or used for model training” and that screenshots are only taken when you actually use Copilot in the Windows 11 Game Bar.
As noted, all of this has raised privacy concerns among some gamers, and we hope Microsoft can sort out this confusion and clear things up. I have contacted the company about this and will update this story if I hear anything back.
Privacy debates aside, what's fairly clear about Gaming Copilot is the impact it has on performance. I tested Dead as a disco demo on Steam and noticed that Gaming Copilot was slowing down the frame rate, although the AI feature didn't have a significant impact.
When enabling the Gaming Copilot model's training settings in the Endless Disco game mode, the frame rate often dropped into the 70s, although it mostly remained in the 80 to 85 fps range.
With the Gaming Copilot model's learning settings turned off, the game maintained speeds between 84 and 89 fps, occasionally reaching 90 fps or more, without any dips in the high 70s.
The Microsoft Edge browser is also required to view and export captured data (via “Game Assist”), and running it in the background will not improve frame rates in games.
Although this doesn't seem like a significant loss in frame rate when you add it up to the rest of Windows 11 bloatware that limits performance levels (even with new handheld mode), everything works out. Speaking of handhelds, Gaming Copilot will likely have a worse impact on lower-end systems like gaming laptops, where every frame matters due to weaker hardware specs.
Analysis: I've never wanted to give up Windows 11 more than now…
Now I've gotten to the point where I feel like Microsoft is trying to alienate gamers from their operating systemeven if he thinks add-ons like Gaming Copilot are useful.
I'm willing to bet that a decent portion of gamers don't need an AI assistant to help them play the game, and they don't want anything that reduces performance (or raises any possible privacy concerns for some people, even if we don't yet know how valid those concerns are).
It's just a shame to me that nothing seems to be done to make games compatible with Linux with anti-cheat tools like Battlefield 6 And Call of Dutybecause as much as I'd love to switch to SteamOS on my main desktop PC, I'd be missing out on some great gaming experiences. (And no, I don't mean Call of Dutybut I'm sure you understand).
I guess my only option at this point is to endure the problems I'm having with Windows 11 for gaming and pray that things start to change on Linux regarding anti-cheating tools.
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