back to article Microsoft tweaks fine print to warn everyone not to take its AI seriously

Microsoft is notifying folks that its AI services should not be taken too seriously, echoing prior service-specific disclaimers. In an update to the IT giant's Service Agreement, which takes effect on September 30, 2024, Redmond has declared that its Assistive AI isn't suitable for matters of consequence. "AI services are not …

  1. navarac Silver badge

    Dreamland

    So AI is all just dream induced? What has Microsoft been smoking?

    1. ADJB

      Re: Dreamland

      What has Microsoft been smoking?

      In 2012, Washington and Colorado were the first states to approve legal recreational use. Since then, Americans have increasingly supported legal cannabis, and legislatures have taken up the issue more often in recent years.

      The timeline fits... :)

    2. macjules
      Meh

      Re: Dreamland

      I attended a Microsoft Edu. forum on AI a few weeks ago in the UK. The CoPilot for GitHub demonstrator actually remarked that using 'please' and 'thank you' in your statement can show a marked improvement in the responses from the AI.

      I am still trying to work out if this is what passes for Microsoft humour.

  2. elDog

    I would just add - Don't Use Microsoft Products in a Production Environment If At All Possible

    Fine for XBox and Clippies and lots of eye candy.

    Of course, the US (and other) governments have bought into the idea that a mega-corp is trustworthy. Perhaps the mega-corp actually bought their way into these governments?

  3. ecofeco Silver badge
    Windows

    Hahahahahahahahaha

    What more proof do we need it's all bollocks?

    1. Fonant

      Re: Hahahahahahahahaha

      See also: "Chat GPT is bullshit": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5

  4. DJV Silver badge

    I haven't taken Microsoft seriously for years!

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      You beat me to the punch :)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I stopped taking Microsoft seriously back in the early days ... and I stopped smoking those lovely little balls of opium too - everything that has made my world so better these days.

  5. Bendacious Silver badge

    cognitive dissonance

    "Unless explicitly permitted, you may not use web scraping, web harvesting, or web data extraction methods to extract data from the AI services"

    Microsoft CEO of AI: "I think that with respect to content that is ... on the open web ... Anyone can copy it, recreate with it, reproduce with it." - https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/28/microsoft_ceo_ai/

    The cognitive dissonance is strong in this one.

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Stop

      "The cognitive dissonance is strong in this one."

      It isn't really cognitive dissonance. It's along the lines of saying "if you want to read a book go to the library; if you want to own a book, buy it from a bookstore instead of stealing it from the library". Although in this case it's a library of stolen books and the librarian is complaining that you're just stealing from him all the things that he put in a lot more work to steal from the original owners - proponents of AI typically thinking that "ethics" is where you live if you're a British blonde with a lisp.

      1. katrinab Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: "The cognitive dissonance is strong in this one."

        So a bit like the British Museum then?

        1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

          Re: "The cognitive dissonance is strong in this one."

          Museums are actually intellectually honest and mostly trying to educate visitors without pretending to be your friend while they steal or spyon you.

    2. ecofeco Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: cognitive dissonance

      They have cognitive dissonance? That's a funny way to spell criminal hypocrisy.

  6. b0llchit Silver badge
    WTF?

    Extended TOnS

    "The Online Services are for entertainment purposes; the Online Services are not error-free, may not work as expected and may generate incorrect information. You should not rely on the Online Services and you should not use the Online Services for advice of any kind. Your use of the Online Services is at your own risk."

    That explains very nicely how to interpret the Office 365347 offerings.

    Surely, they will be TOnS(*) shopping between services when you actually have a complaint and find a rule to tell you to GFY.

    (*) TOnS: Terms Of non-Service

  7. Sparkus

    This will be news to.....

    firms like Thomson-Reuters who have invested huge amounts of financial capital and corporate reputation in their deployment of msft AI tools within their own products.......

  8. Rattus
    Megaphone

    The wheel doth turn

    When generating an AI, harvest and train on everything you can slurp from the net; with or without explicit consent - It's all fair use don't you know.

    Now you have you AI model make claims for its use, and get people to buy into the cult (it's a cult because they have got you to believe in power of AI whilst they see it as a revenue stream)

    Now you have people (possibly even paying customers) that are using the system:

    [1] Change the T's & C's to prohibit people from harvesting any data / deriving understanding from your product - There is no such thing as fair use don't you know. If you pay us enough $ we might consider a single use licence.

    [1] Change the T's & C's to prohibit people from using the system for anything that might be useful because if they were to do so, and something happened that doesn't fit into your cosy description of what AI can do, then you might be held liable for the consequences.

  9. nautica Silver badge
    Happy

    Headline--"Microsoft tweaks fine print to warn everyone not to take its AI seriously"

    "I didn't say all them things I said."--Yogi Berra

  10. intransigent

    "The Online Services are for entertainment purposes;

    the Online Services are not error-free, may not work as expected and may generate incorrect information. You should not rely on the Online Services and you should not use the Online Services for advice of any kind. Your use of the Online Services is at your own risk."

    For all that there has always been NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, this is still fascinating to see in print.

  11. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
    Facepalm

    I guess

    running a nuclear power station with m$ AI is out of the question.....

    And as for the 'use at your own risk' clause............ can someone tell me what the AI is actually good for if it has inbuilt risks that the answer/advice/commands it spits out cannot be relied on?

  12. wsm

    Anyone remember?

    When people actually bothered to read the Java EULA? It actually stated "FAILURE OF JAVA TECHNOLOGY COULD LEAD DIRECTLY TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE."

    Nothing new here.

  13. JRStern

    Well then, obviously worth the $100,000,000,000 Microsoft is investing in it

    Say what.

  14. EricB123 Silver badge

    Meanwhile, a Boeing

    "Maybe we should have tested using pizza glue instead of rivets"

  15. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

    How does this admission not cancel all AI claims and advertising and make them false and legally false advertising ?

  16. Locomotion69 Bronze badge
    Unhappy

    What ??

    They must be joking.

    I asked Copilot if it would be a good idea to install Linux.

    It offered me help to find the best suitable distribution. (this is _not_ a joke, it actually did this)

    And now they tell me to not take it seriously....

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