Question [Quick question] My nightmare is that what if Microsoft released windows 12 required AI PC's only

Windows 11 will have support for quite a number of years yet. You'll be wanting to replace your 8th gen laptop by then.

Windows 10 has extended support until 2031. Windows 11 current releases have support listed through 2034, but that is for today's version, not the updates that have yet to come out, or extended support.

Now, what might be more worrisome is minimum requirements for applications that want an NPU or a certain amount of TOPS from a GPU.