Microsoft Teams’ latest AI trick cleans and decorates your messy webcam background

Microsoft is adding two new AI-powered features to Teams soon that will improve your voice and webcam. A new “decorate your background” feature is coming to Microsoft Teams Premium in early 2024 and uses generative AI effects to clean up and replace clutter in the background when on a video call.

While Microsoft Teams has long offered a variety of virtual backgrounds, this decoration feature will work in a real-world room, much like the augmented reality filters you find on Snapchat. It can even add plants, lights, and seasonal objects to the background behind you. We’ll have to see how this functions in reality, but if it works as well as the GIF below, then it could be a good option to hide your messy background and avoid the fake-looking virtual ones.

Microsoft is also adding a voice isolation feature to Teams later this year. “With voice isolation, Teams recognizes your voice and suppresses other noises to ensure you’re the only one to be heard in unscheduled calls and meetings,” explains Microsoft in a blog post. The AI feature in Teams will recognize your voice after you enroll in the feature and can fully filter out other voices so it’s only you that gets picked up in a busy coffee shop.

These aren’t the only AI-powered features in Teams, though. Microsoft is also improving Copilot in Microsoft Teams, allowing for meetings without its transcription feature, a writing assistant for messages, and the ability to recap meetings. You can read all about the new Copilot in Teams features here.