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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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  1. 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

    21 people found this answer helpful.
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  1. 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

    51 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-10T10:56:46+00:00

    Hello Chandy,

    I understand that deleting the .exe will "obviously" disable it but you need to appreciate that we are dealing with end users. Asking them to do something that to you and I would be a very simple thing to do would be too much to ask of them. Also consider that we have to support many users, some of which are on equipment that doesn't always meet the sort of minimum standards that we would expect from equipment these days.

    So I can instruct our Support team to delete the .exe but as you already point out there is no guarantee that it will not resurface after an update. That is not acceptable in the long run. We need to have an option in Microsoft Office products where we can turn the feature off.

    431 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2023-02-10T11:05:14+00:00

    Obviously this is not possible in the current version, so if you need this option, you can only give feedback and expect the developers to add this feature.

    32 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. 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?

    68 people found this answer helpful.
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