So today without my knowledge or explicit consent (I restarted my computer normally without any indication of an update!) Windows decided to install Copilot on my device.
Obviously this is creepy as all hell, so I'm sharing a link that explains what to do to get it off there.
And while you're at it maybe send them some highly negative feedback on the hub. Not that they listen to it, but you know.
I am. pissed off.
I want to stress that machine learning is not inherently evil and in a very different cultural context than Silicon Valley, it COULD be used to empower artists, decrease pointless labor, heal the sick, give time back to people.
Like, we've used large-scale computation to read inside scrolls that cannot be unrolled without destroying them. That's really fucking cool!
But what about all the totally unethical uses of the technology? They are still bad! But! They are not bad because of the technology! Corporate greed uses the tools at its disposal.
In the 1990s they used the browser cookie.
In the 2000s they used GPS in phones.
In the 2010s they used "virtual assistants."
And now in the 2020s they're using "artificial intelligence". (I hate calling it that, I HATE calling it intelligent, it's fucking not, a swarm of bees is more intelligent, it's not Data fucking Soong)
All of these technologies serve legitimate needs when used legitimately. But all of them have also been abused for profit. If everything that could possibly be called "AI" vanished today, we might have fewer subtle avenues for that abusive greed to manifest. But it would not magically make people respect workers more!