How do I disable the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Host [etc]" feature?

Anonymous
2023-02-09T16:34:50+00:00

We have started getting complaints from our customers over this "feature" as it appears to be quite the resource hog, and of course they are blaming our add-ins.

Killing the ai.exe process appears to have no ill effect on the usability of Office programs such as Word, Outlook or Excel.

So I need to know how we can disable it. I'd prefer to give an instruction to our users on how they can switch off a feature they do not want, they feel they do not need, and that causes their old PCs to start sounding like a Harrier Jet taking off.

Thank you

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | Other | Other

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Anonymous
2024-02-07T21:10:13+00:00

This seems to work. There are all sorts of solutions put out there that involve things like editing the Registry. Here's a much easier fix that seems to have worked for me (and this is from The Geek Page https://thegeekpage.com/how-to-disable-the-artificial-intelligence-ai-host-feature/).

First, the obvious: delete the AI executables from the OFFICE folder:
ai.exe

ai.exe
aitrx.dll

Second - this is incredibly easy. Deleting the executables does not completely work because Office automatically updates itself with new copies of those files.

Since the AI Host runs when you use an Office app:
Disable the Office app updates.

To do this, open any Office application, like Word.

– Click the “File” menu and then the “Account” menu item - this may be under the "More..." menu item, in which case click "More..." and then click "Account"

– There, click on “Update Options”, which brings up a popup menu - on the popup menu, set that to “Disable Updates” to disable Office updates for all Office apps

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-03-08T21:41:15+00:00

    Windows just crashed on me as I attempted to convert a one-page (!) doc to PDF. When I pulled up Task Manager, it was at 100% CPU, 90% of which were five (!) instances of AI.EXE. The remaining open items were less than 15%, but AI.EXE killed Windows.

    This is not funny in the least. If Microsoft does not take care of this issue, someone needs to start a class action lawsuit against them. They've had plenty of time to fix.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-10T11:11:54+00:00

    Indeed. If this isn't the correct place to do that, can you direct me to same?

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-03-15T01:16:16+00:00

    More on the sneaks and their new spy tool. I replied a few days ago with how I got rid of AI and the Bing search feature that is associated with it. The question then was - would AI come back with Windows Update. Oh... it does.. has a couple times. I am using Windows 11 Pro and this is true with my Windows 10 Pro system as well. Editing the registry to disable BING - that so far has worked and has NOT reverted: https://www.howtogeek.com/826967/how-to-disable-bing-in-the-windows-11-start-menu/

    So I also found that this AI "feature" is in the registry under Microsoft's Click to Run sections... but disabling clicktorun pisses off my Office installation and errors when starting Office. NOTE: I ONLY see AI running when I have Outlook open - no other Office app.... ODD... makes ya wonder...

    I have resorted to just creating a task that I will run once a day in the morning (my machines update at night), that will kill the AI task if it is running (only when Outlook is running) and delete the (3) files that are involved that I know of. I played with powershell script and scheduling which was a lot more fun than it needs to be. So I use a .BAT file and schedule it as a program to run in the task. Here are the simple commands in the batch file:

    I named it "KillAI.bat": you need the double quotes on the path in the CD command AND note the Office version, "Office16" may need to be different for you though its what I have and I have Office 2021, Good Hunting!:

    taskkill /IM ai.exe /F

    CD "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

    Del ai.exe

    Del ai.dll

    Del aimgr.exe

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-02-10T10:35:02+00:00

    Hello Giuseppe Carafa

    Welcome to Microsoft Community.

    I am aware of the present situation is that you need to disable a component of the Microsoft Suite. Could you please check if the current scenario is shown below:

    This thread is generally integrated into the the Microsoft 365 suite, if it is taking up too many resources. You should be able to find it by navigating to the following path:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\ai.exe

    After my tests, if you delete ai.exe, the task manager process will not have this program. However, this may be restored in the next update, which is probably by design. You can also refer to the following professional answers from Joshua Burkholder ( MSFT ) Microsoft Employee for some insights that may answer your concerns:

    OFFICE16 ai.exe - Microsoft Community

    Best regards,

    Chandy |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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