Microsoft, the biggest supporter and investor of OpenAI after it launched AI applications such as ChatGPT, uses artificial intelligence in many areas, especially Copilot in Windows systems. The basic logic of artificial intelligence is based on a system trained with existing knowledge. So, are Microsoft applications, such as Office applications, used to train artificial intelligence?
Microsoft: We do not use application data such as Word and Excel to train artificial intelligence
Recently, Microsoft, the owner of the Office apps, released an update that will automatically turn on the Connected experiences feature. If users do not want to use this feature, they have to turn it off manually. Thanks to the connected experiences feature, the parent company Microsoft can collect a lot of data from Microsoft 365, or Office apps. Many users reacted to this and suggested that Microsoft was using the data to train OpenAI’s GPT AI.
Microsoft Office, like many companies in recent months, has secretly enabled an ‘opt-out’ feature that scans your Word and Excel documents to train its internal artificial intelligence systems, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted. This setting is on by default and you have to manually uncheck a box to disable it. If you are an author who uses MS Word to write any kind of proprietary content (blog posts, novels, or any work you intend to copyright and/or sell), you will want to turn this feature off immediately.
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In response to this post, Microsoft said, “We do not use customer data to train LLMs in M365 applications. This setting only enables features that require internet access, such as co-authoring a document. But earlier this year, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn came under scrutiny for leaving a feature on by default that collects user data for the company’s AI training. If you want to turn off connected experiences, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings > Optional Connected Experiences > Uncheck this box: Turn on on-demand experiences, you can easily turn it off with this method.
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