References to ‘Intelligent Media Search’ a feature capable of scanning your media files and transcribing with AI has been noticed in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27695

Microsoft recently announced the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27695 (Canary Channel).  A reference to ‘Intelligent Media Search’ has been noticed in the announcement by X user Xeno. 

So, what is this ‘Intelligent Media Search’ all about? It suggests that this new Windows 11 feature will be able to search audio and videos on a user’s system, by scanning and scraping your media files. The media files will be scanned scraped and transcribed with AI. After that, the feature will be capable of searching for what you need, even with spoken word. This means that Microsoft will allow AI to go through a user’s video and audio files in one of their upcoming updates.

The reference mentions that “By clicking ‘I agree’ you consent to scanning the media files on your device. If needed, the required model will be downloaded and installed in the background”. The reference further mentions that once the AI model is set up, it needs to transcribe a user’s media files and index them before enabling content-based search. They will inform a user once the process is complete.

It is now opined that the feature seems to be an update to the ‘Recall’ feature. The feature received mixed reactions and was put on hold before the launch of Microsoft’s new Copilot+ AI PCs. Users were of the view that the ‘Recall’ feature could lead to data leaks, as it was capable of taking screenshots of everything users do. After that, an AI model indexes and makes your PC history searchable.

Now, although the ‘Intelligent media search’ feature isn’t available to be tested or used yet, it is unsure how users would react to it. The feature seems to be more convenient if one can set and select which audio and video files to scrape, scan, and transcribe with AI. Otherwise, the feature seems more like an intruder being allowed on your PC system.