Xbox shows off a gaming version of Microsoft’s AI assistant thing that’ll show up “at the right moment” and tell you what to do with your wood

Sigh. Here we go. Because everything’s got to involve some shitty AI tech now, Xbox has just shown off a gaming version of Microsoft’s Copilot AI that it’ll be deploying at some point, so that you can ask a useless AI assistant stuff like, er, “Okay, I’ve got some wood. What can I do with that?”

No, I’m not making this up. That’s one of the questions a Minecraft player asks the AI in this demo that I assume was put together by a not small team of professionals and has just been shown the world on an official Xbox podcast. I think we can wrap up 2025’s VG247 Jim Trinca memorial award (podcast with the weirdest vibes) early, everyone.

Right, context. Xbox is calling this upcoming version of Microsoft’s regular kinda paperclip but evil program Copilot by the very inventive name Copilot for Gaming, and says it’s “coming soon to your Xbox mobile app”, with Xbox insiders set to get a chance to test it out.

An early prototype of its in-game assistance feature has been shown off in the latest official Xbox podcast, as I alluded to, with Xbox corporate vice president of gaming AI Fatima Kardar and vice president of gaming devices and ecosystem Jason Ronald explaining more about why this is a thing.

Basically, it’ll show up to help you, providing the kinds of tips, tricks, and general advice you might be able to get from an actual human – possibly with the expertise of say, a professional video game guides writer, who makes a living putting ungodly amounts of hours into playing stuff in order to make sure they can advise folks on stuff like good builds, how to do things, or where to find things – to help you not be so s**t at games.

For example, a Minecrafter asks the aforementioned question: “Okay, I’ve got some wood. What can I do with that?” Rather than laughing its arse off like any natural thing would in response to that, the AI can tell you to open your inventory and stick it in the crafting bit to make some logs.

If it’s any consolation, Kardar did suggest this might be an optional or a limitable occurence, saying: “It’s not just about AI showing up to help you, it’s about AI showing up at the right moment. So, I think we really have to think of the experience that we build, it can’t be intrusive, it cannot show up in the middle of the game.”

Do you need advice on what to do with your wood? Let us know below! Actually, on second thought, don’t.