During the PC boom of the 1990s, Microsoft introduced Clippy as a friendly face to help users hone their word-processing skills. An animated paper clip with round cartoon eyes and expressive eyebrows floating over a sheet of yellow legal paper, Clippy would frequently and spontaneously pop out of the corner of the screen to provide advice and tips on saving files and using good grammar. Clippy was also almost universally hated, his shifting eyes and unsolicited feedback providing more irritation than comfort.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff believes Microsoft is on its way to a repeat act of creating a loathsome program meant to assist users in Copilot, the tech company’s foray into AI-powered assistance.
