Microsoft Office comes with the Connected Experiences feature that analyzes user-created content. Looks like the Redmond firm is using it now to bind a data set for training artificial intelligence. The unwanted behavior was spotted by the X user nixCraft on X.
According to his guess, the default setting allows Microsoft to use articles, artwork, and other documents open in Office applications to train AI without asking for user consent in each case. So anyone concerned about protecting their intellectual property or confidential information may want to do something with it. For example, the user can opt out of this feature by disabling the appropriate option in Office settings. However, on a Windows PC it is seven clicks deep in the File menu.
Tom's Hardware made a conclusion that Microsoft’s approach reflects a broader trend in the tech industry. That is, AI developers are actively seeking out materials that can be used to train models - all of which are trained on human-created content, but doing so without explicit consumer consent may not be entirely ethical. The company has neither officially confirmed nor denied that it is using data from Excel and Word documents created by Office users to train its AI.
At the same time, the company's website contains a document called the " Microsoft Services Agreement ." It states that to the extent necessary to provide services to you and others, protect you and the services, and improve Microsoft products and services, you grant Microsoft a worldwide, royalty-free license to use the intellectual property associated with your content, such as copying, storing, transmitting, reformatting, displaying, and distributing your content on the services by means of communications. Doesn't sound great.
Microsoft has contacted the original author, and made the following statement.
In the M365 apps, we do not use customer data to train LLMs. This setting only enables features requiring internet access like co-authoring a document.
So the company is denying the accusations.
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They may not currently use the data but the legal language says they have the right to use the data at any time in the future for basically anything.
Microsoft effectively owns everything that is created in Office. And denying current use does not stop the legal ownership of that data.