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
    2023-06-22T16:56:54+00:00

    YRP_1161 - On fully updated systems, Windows and Office updates... we are seeing some variations - you don't see what I do see with the same OS and Office versions. Nor sure why this is... The primary machine I am using for all of this is a relatively new Win 11 Pro install... Not going to chase that, its just a curious thing and I'll see what I can do to deal with webview2 soon.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-06-22T17:11:57+00:00

    I don't know if "Chandy" is a person or AI you and others keep commenting to. Haven't seen anything of use from "Chandy". But is makes more sense to combine all the commands into a task... and run it periodically - so you don't have to keep checking your task manager to see if ai.exe is running. Just create a  task and run it every hour... once a day... whatever. Check task manager once in a while in case MS finds a way to reinstate ai.exe  -maybe even as a different executable.... simple.. hands free... no need to manually kill it every time you update... you can go into task manager and manually  run the task as well... as if you were running the batch file or cmd file from a prompt if you desire. You want all of these commands in your file - as some  machines run 32bit and some 64bit Office versions.

    # Kill AI

    taskkill /IM ai.exe /F 

    # Remove AI

    cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

    Del ai.exe

    Del ai.dll

    Del aimgr.exe

    Del aitrx.dll

    cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

    Del ai.exe

    Del ai.dll

    Del aimgr.exe

    Del aitrx.dll

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

    Del ai.exe

    Del ai.dll

    Del aimgr.exe

    Del aitrx.dll

    cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

    Del ai.exe

    Del ai.dll

    Del aimgr.exe

    Del aitrx.dll

    In task scheduler - make sure you set it to run with the highest privileges, and whether user is logged in or not.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-06-24T23:46:35+00:00

    it's not just 1 file but 4 and hiding in several places
    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

    PackageFiles may get a new number after an update

    and it's not just ai.exe
    but also
    ai.dll
    aimgr.exe
    aitrx.dll

    I use CCleaner, under Options, in Include, in Add i add the files,
    in Custom Clean, I check Custom Files and Folders in Advanced under Windows,
    so every time I run Custom Clean in CCleaner it also removes that Ai

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

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

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

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-06-25T01:38:56+00:00

    YRP_1161 - On fully updated systems, Windows and Office updates... we are seeing some variations - you don't see what I do see with the same OS and Office versions. Nor sure why this is... The primary machine I am using for all of this is a relatively new Win 11 Pro install... Not going to chase that, its just a curious thing and I'll see what I can do to deal with webview2 soon.

    That's weird that quite similar installs can behave so differently, but MS sometimes rolls out features in a staggered fashion so I will definitely be keeping a vigilant watch over this.

    I don't think you should touch webview2.

    We use a custom software application unrelated to Office and the developer is using webview2 to display data in certain panels, much to my annoyance as the way it displays the data is nowhere near as good as it was before.

    When I talked to support about the change and how it impacted me they claimed this was how the software was being progressed for newer versions of Windows and the widest audience compatibility. I got the impression that MS is pushing this onto developers so it's likely that stopping webview2 and later from executing might break packages that need it to function.

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