(Image credit: Rik Henderson / Future)

Microsoft has unveiled what it says is "a new way to browse the web", and it could persuade you to change web browsers to either embrace the new technology or run screaming. That's because it's all about AI.

The Edge browser now has an experimental Copilot Mode that combines search, web browsing and a chatbot into a single input box.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The promise is a browsing assistant that doesn't just react to your queries but anticipates what you're going to do next, and Microsoft says it "keeps you browsing, cuts through clutter and removes friction to unlock your flow".

It's similar to what Google is doing with its Gemini platform, but not as full-on as Perplexity's Comet AI browser. Think of it as an AI-powered browsing companion rather than a full AI browser.

What is CoPilot Mode in Microsoft Edge?

One of CoPilot's key features is the ability to look through your open tabs – with your permission – to understand the context of what you're doing, so when you search for something, it already knows what you've been looking at.

Microsoft gives the example of someone looking for holiday accommodation across multiple sites, saying that they could ask CoPilot which of the current options is closest to the beach and has a full kitchen.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

CoPilot Mode also supports normal voice navigation, so you can chat to the assistant about what you want it to do. And in a near-future update, you'll be able to give it access to your history and browser credentials so it can carry out tasks on your behalf.

For example, you might get CoPilot to find and book something for you and it will not only do that but also "check the weather, make the booking and even suggest sunscreen or tutorial videos to help you prepare."

More realistically, it'll be able to convert recipe ingredients or translate web pages.

Whether any of this appeals to you depends very much on your thoughts on AI. If you're concerned about the accuracy, environmental footprint or ethics of AI then this is clearly a feature you're not going to want to use.

There's also the fact that Microsoft says that this feature is "free for a limited time", so it's going to cost money at some point.

However, you can easily enable or disable CoPilot Mode in Edge's settings and if you choose the latter, you'll continue browsing as normal.