If you are getting frustrated with generative AI features creeping into every corner of Windows, we have some bad news. Microsoft is adding yet another AI feature to Paint in Windows 11, intended to help you redesign images in various styles.
Windows Paint version 11.2509.441.0 is now rolling out to computers enrolled in Windows Insiders updates, across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels on Windows 11. It includes a new feature called Restyle, which creates new images generative AI based on the design of the opened image.
Restyle is a new option in Paint's Copilot menu. You pick a style, click the Generate button, and you get a new image that you can add to your Paint canvas or save separately. Microsoft didn't provide a full list of styles, but one of them is a 'Pop art' style.
We've seen many other tools introduce similar modes, like ChatGPT Plus—you might remember the flood of Studio Ghibli-style images from earlier this year. The Image Playground feature in Apple Intelligence can also redesign pictures you provide in various styles.
A blog post explained, "In this update we are introducing Restyle, an AI-powered feature that lets you transform the art style of images on the canvas. To get started, open Paint and select the Restyle option from the Copilot menu. Choose from a preset list of styles and select the Generate button. Once the restyled images are generated, you can click on the Add to canvas button, copy, or save it for later use."
Now that Microsoft is building that functionality into Paint, the people who want it won't necessarily have to open ChatGPT or another similar tool. For the rest of us, though, it's yet another AI feature in Windows that doesn't need to be there. Paint has received many great improvements in Windows 11, like more brushes and support for layers, but a built-in AI slop generator is much less useful. If the last two years is any indication, there will probably be pop-ups and other prompts to encourage people to try the feature, adding to the annoyance.
This is the latest in a long series of AI art generation features, which were initially branded as using DALL-E, but now fall under the 'Image Creator' umbrella. Most features run in the cloud and cost AI credits in your Microsoft account, but some options can run locally on the current PC, depending on your hardware. Restyle only seems to be available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, at least for now, and it requires signing in with a Microsoft account.
The new Restyle feature is limited to the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels in Windows 11, but it should roll out to all Windows 11 PCs in the near future.
Source: Windows Blog