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
    2023-07-02T09:09:35+00:00

    Hey buddy.... I just did another Office update and low and behold.... with the entries you found to work in GP... even after doing a force update and a reboot... guess who's back? ai.exe is running. Even with GP involved. My batch file still works... check your stuff - do the latest Office update.. see it our little nuisance has returned for you as well... hopefully its just me... I have other systems I can try on... will do.

    Well the debacle continues .,.

    Today I decided to uninstall Office 2019 (x86) from my new Win11Pro notebook ... sounds easy, right?

    Being old school I went into Control Panel, Programs & Features and chose Uninstall. It looked like everything got removed, it recommended a reboot so that happened.

    When installing Office 2016 Pro (x86) it complained that an x64 application "Office 16 Click-to-Run Extensibility Component 64-bit Registration" was stopping the x64 install. Weird as I had installed Office 2019 x86. A bit of research and I had to uninstall the .msp installer package, but that pointed to another .msp that the Office 2019 uninstall had already removed. I copied the .msp from my desktop to the notebook and chose the file, then it seemed to proceed but gave no indication of completion. Reboot, run it again, reboot.

    Tested the Office 2016 install, went through OK, ran updates twice and then launched Outlook.

    Thankfully the GPO policy seems to be working as there's no sign of ai.exe running but damn webview2 now runs under Outlook.

    GRRRR.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-06-25T03:12:30+00:00

    yes janh3 being observant with the tools a lot of us already use... good catch! I also agree with your reasoning on webview2 - I wasn't sure of what it might do to muck with it.

    Sometimes I guess its easy to get eager when going after some of MS's bloat.

    I have always looked at "Windows" as an OS for business first... thats how it evolved and I have dealt with all versions - big for business... most of the issues and solutions found over the years are/were for business environments... Seeing them turn it into a glorified version of a phone OS, and all the garbage now added - for other than business - has made me pretty critical of the what I will call "idiots" behind the bloat. And I suppose its all in the interest of keeping up with the Joneses.... whatever it takes to force it on new computers, making people replace computers more than 4 years old... and add **** to it - to call it a new version and then sell it for $$$... its about money... and if "cute" sells... then "cute" it is...

    Its easy for me to go hunting on some of it. And you are right... about its purpose with webview2,,,so I wonder if the same holds true for AI... are we going to create adverse results for something down the road.... that people will want to work... I don't really care - its the nature of what AI is and the hidden mystery as to what all it is doing.... and how they forced it on us =.... and the manner in which they have installed it.... so ... will worry about the future when and if that becomes an issue - then.

    For now.... off with its head.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-06-25T02:51:05+00:00

    If the AV program can block specific paths and not just blanket ai.exe, this could work. Another user here mentioned a game he regularly used also called ai.exe and his workaround avoided the blocking of that package.

    But this is an interesting angle - I'll dig into my domain AV management to see if this can be similarly implemented.

    So far it looks like we have three solutions - scheduled deletions, GPO and AV blocking

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