Ryzen AI and the rise of the AI PC: How Copilot+ and on-device intelligence are transforming Windows laptops

A new era of personal computing has begun. While we have long been used to the two primary components of software with personal computers, the CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit), the newest generation of notebook computers has added a third component, known as the NPU (neural processing unit), which completely shifts the user's computing experience. The introduction of this component into our computing devices has created a new type of computer, called AI (artificial intelligence) PCs, and Microsoft has designed its Microsoft Copilot+ product to make full use of this new technology.

In order to demonstrate how this new type of PC can be of benefit to everyday users, we tested the AI capabilities of the ASUS Zenbook S16, which is an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370-powered computer. This laptop is the latest generation of Copilot+ PCs with an emphasis on a combination of powerful high-performance hardware, with on-device AI processing capabilities, and complete integration with the new Windows 11 AI offerings.

What we found when testing the AI PC platform was that the AI PC platform is not defined by one specific capability, but that it represents a complete change in the way an operating system works, how software applications operate, and how users interact with their PCs.

The foundation of the AI PC: Ryzen AI and the NPU

AMD brought out the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 in the Zenbook S16 to get us ready for the next generation of Windows laptops. This beast of a chip comes with three game-changing elements:

• A pretty snappy Zen 5 CPU for just about any kind of general computing you want to do

• Built-in RDNA 3.5 graphics that'll give you a great gaming and content creation experience

• An XDNA 2 NPU that's designed specifically for handling those AI workloads, and it does it with exceptionally low power consumption. Those kinds of operations are pretty much the building blocks for all the AI tasks we're starting to see everywhere, like image recognition, speech processing, background noise removal, eye contact correction, and visual understanding.

Now, what really sets an AI PC apart is the NPU. It can do those matrix and tensor operations with super low power consumption. It's the key to what makes an AI PC different from other laptops. Instead of relying on the cloud to do all that heavy lifting as we used to, the Zenbook S16 can run those AI models right on its own hardware. This makes AI features a whole lot faster, a whole lot more secure, and a whole lot more efficient. And it opens the door to continuous background AI processes that would siphon battery life out of a traditional laptop.

This combination of CPU, GPU, and NPU that's what makes a modern AI PC tick.

Windows 11 and Copilot+ AI built right into the operating system

Microsoft took a good hard look at Windows 11 and rebuilt a bunch of it to take advantage of this new hardware. Copilot+ PCs are giving users a whole bunch of AI features that rely on the NPU for real-time processing.

Here are some of the most important AI features you can get your hands on with a Ryzen AI laptop today.

Live video and audio enhancements

Windows Studio Effects takes care of background blur, noise reduction, portrait lighting, and eye contact correction during video calls, and it does it all in real time. The NPU handles it so smoothly that you can still keep multitasking without any issues.

Real-time captions and translations

If you want captions for some audio from meetings to YouTube videos, say you can turn them on and even have the option to translate speech into another language right there on the fly. And since it's powered by on-device AI models, it all works offline.

AI creative tools across Windows apps

Photos, Paint, Clipchamp, and other apps are using AI to remove objects, enhance images, and assist with video editing. Those AI features run a whole lot more smoothly on AI PCs because of NPU acceleration.

Smarter and faster Copilot interactions

Because local models are doing a bit of the heavy lifting, Copilot can respond super fast to all sorts of routine tasks, system commands, and screen-based requests.

This is all well and good, but it's just a foundation for what we're really excited about: Copilot Vision and multimodal interactions, as shown in the screenshots you sent.

Copilot Vision: A Revolutionary AI Assistant

Copilot Vision is a game-changing feature on your Zenbook S16 that lets Copilot actually see what's on your screen. And when it can see what you can, it's no longer just a simple chat assistant; it can be an interactive guide that helps you out in real time, whenever you need it.

Your screenshots show how well Copilot Vision works. It takes a look at a Firefox window, quickly figures out what's being displayed, and gets ready to answer your questions about it. This feature lets it:

• Recognize text, images, icons, and all the different bits of the interface

• Get a sense of what's going on. Is it a webpage, document, or app you have open?

• Give you real answers to questions about what you can see

• Provide instructions that actually make sense, using the screen content as a guide

• Even work out what you're pointing at or highlighting.

Copilot Vision gives Windows a kind of 'eyesight,' which is why it's such a big deal and a showcase for how advanced NPUs can be in consumer hardware.

Multimodal AI The Future of Computing

Another screenshot shows Copilot in listening mode, waiting to hear your voice while at the same time keeping an eye on the screen. This is what makes all of this multimodal AI stuff possible.

Multimodal interaction is all about putting together different types of input, like

• Voice commands

• What you're looking at on the screen

• Where you're pointing with your mouse or touching the screen

• And any instructions you might want to give

The result is a more natural and intuitive way of using your computer, one that feels more like a conversation with a real person. You can ask Copilot things like

• What is this webpage about again?

• Can you explain this document I'm reading in simple terms?

• Help me understand this chart on the screen.

• Give me a quick summary of the page I'm looking at.

The system handles all of this in your PC itself, with the NPU looking after speech recognition and being able to see what's on the screen, while the rest of the PC remains free for your main tasks. This is the kind of AI that feels like magic, because it's so invisible but at the same time so powerful it just makes your PC feel more natural and intuitive to use.

On-Device Image Generation Revolutionizing Creative Work

Your screenshots also show Copilot whipping up a stunningly detailed product render in response to a text prompt. And by offloading some of the grunt work to the NPU, it makes the AI rendering process a whole lot faster on your PC.

While the cloud still has to do the actual heavy lifting of generating loads of detail, the NPU can help get things ready for it and make the whole process feel a lot snappier and more responsive.

For people who do creative work, this makes AI illustration a lot more usable as part of the normal workflow, rather than something you have to go off and use in a separate tool.

While cloud models still handle the final generation of the complex images, the NPU improves things like

• Working out what your prompt actually means

• Making sure the image looks right and consistent

• Doing some of the pre-work needed for the AI to generate the image

• Keeping the whole thing a lot faster and more responsive

All this means that people like designers, marketers, content creators, and all the others who do this sort of work can just get on with it much more easily and naturally than before.

Screen-sharing controls and task assistance

Copilot also provides floating panels and controls that let you:

• Share your current screen

• Switch between windows

• Allow or block microphone access

• Stop the on-screen interaction

This creates a fluid system where Copilot is always available but never intrusive. It acts like a context-aware companion that sits on top of your workflow.

This type of interface is essential to the future of AI PCs because it blurs the line between assistance and automation. It hints at what will eventually become AI-guided workflows inside Windows.

Benchmarking the Zenbook S16: Real power behind the AI

To measure real-world performance, we ran the UL Procyon Video Editing Benchmark 1.5 on the Zenbook S16 using Adobe Premiere Pro. The laptop scored 7,741, which reflects strong export performance and smooth handling of both 1080p and 4K workloads. The Radeon 890M graphics assist with GPU-accelerated tasks, while the NPU supports AI effects behind the scenes.

As Adobe and other creative suites integrate more NPU features, AI PCs like the Zenbook S16 will continue to grow in capability.

Why AI PCs matter for everyday users

AI PCs are not defined by a single impressive demo. The real value comes from the everyday benefits:

• Better video call quality through real-time AI enhancements

• Seamless voice, screen, and text interaction

• Faster creative workflows

• More intuitive help and on-screen guidance

• Offline AI features that respect user privacy

• Longer battery life during AI tasks

These improvements change the character of Windows laptops and set the stage for how PCs will evolve over the next decade.

Conclusion: The future of Windows computing is on-device AI.

The ASUS Zenbook S16 and AMD’s Ryzen AI platform show what the next generation of laptops will look like. Local AI processing allows Windows 11 to become faster, more capable, and more intuitive. Copilot Vision, multimodal interaction, and real-time AI enhancements represent the beginning of a platform shift that will define the future of personal computing.

AI PCs are not a trend. They are the next standard for Windows laptops. With Ryzen AI and Copilot+, that future is already here.

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