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

Anonymous

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

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Anonymous

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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Anonymous

2023-09-19T08:58:46+00:00

The GPO & AV blocking is definitely working for me. No traces of ai.exe running from Outlook 2019 or Word.

Yeah - I did try the GPO stuff but our AV is locked down. :-(

Never mind, I'll have to write a program that kills it off.
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Anonymous

2023-09-19T08:29:19+00:00

Okay - I gave it a while to test the theory, and the process I posted does not work. ai.exe starts when Word starts.
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Anonymous

2023-09-19T02:58:42+00:00

If you really want to know what being cornered is, get this, I have Windows 11 in S Mode. I cannot use any kind of command prompt, registry editor, group policy, etc. to try fixes. So I can't really fix squat.

I have threatened to go to the dump and dig up an old broken Etch-e-Sketch to use instead of continuing with Microsoft. Some of you may have to look up what an Etch-e-Sketch is. Better go back about 55-60 yrs.

Thank you all for this enlightened discussion.

Both alpenit and I will have owned them way back, I remember mine fondly!

There is a way to disable S Mode if you're game

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/switching-out-of-s-mode-in-windows-4f56d9be-99ec-6983-119f-031bfb28a307#WindowsVersion=Windows_11

Neither of us will have tried this, I've avoided working on any Win XX Home machine and never seen an S Mode device but if you have a go please report back with what you've found.

I would think that after disabling S Mode you'll be allowed to install and configure an Antivirus package the way you want, blocking the AI executable from running.
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