Why is Big Tech hellbent on making AI opt-out?

As Microsoft, Apple, and Google switch the tech on by default, what happened to asking for permission first?

Opinion Copilot in Microsoft 365 and Apple Intelligence on iDevices are the latest examples of the tech industry's obsession with making services opt-out rather than opt-in.

Last week, Copilot made an unsolicited appearance in Microsoft 365. This week, Apple turned on Apple Intelligence by default in its upcoming operating system releases. And it isn't easy to get through any of Google's services without stumbling over Gemini.

Regulators worldwide are keen to ensure that marketing and similar services are opt-in. When dark patterns are used to steer users in one direction or another, lawmakers pay close attention.

But, for some reason, forcing AI on customers is acceptable. Rather than asking "we're going to shovel a load of AI services into your apps that you never asked for, but our investors really need you to use, is this OK?" the assumption instead is that users will be delighted to see their formerly pristine applications cluttered with AI features.

Customers, however, seem largely dissatisfied. For every study showing how users are delighted when presented with generative AI tools, others paint a picture of users regarding the technology with suspicion and some enterprises giving the services a wide berth.

While we'd hesitate to use the word "enshittification" to describe what this relentless drive to ram AI down customers' throats is doing to formerly reliable services (take a look at the sometimes hilariously inaccurate summaries that now appear at the top of Google search results), it is clear that things are not going entirely to plan.

Customers have not asked for any of this. There has been no clamoring for search summaries, no pent-up demand for the revival of a jumped-up Clippy. There is no desire to wreak further havoc on the environment to get an almost-correct recipe for tomato soup. And yet here we are, ready or not.

This might not be what investors and shareholders want to hear, yet there needs to be a moratorium on adding AI services without first asking customers for consent. Despite promises of local processing and privacy-first technology, it is difficult to shake off the suspicion the data is being gathered for all manner of purposes. There would be (and has been – we're looking at you, Windows Recall) an outcry if spyware and keyloggers were suddenly forced on users, but generative AI assistants and summarizers appear to have got a free pass.

Microsoft has bet an awful lot on generative AI tech, and by making Copilot opt-out rather than opt-in, the company can show figures to shareholders that AI is going swimmingly and it hasn't made a terrible, terrible mistake. The same applies to Apple, Google, and many others in the tech industry.

This is not to deny the tangible benefits of AI. The technology works well as a classifier. For example, spotting potholes. As the next generation of autocomplete for coders, it can be useful. It's also handy when searching, although, let's face it, Windows Search has never been the jewel in the crown of Microsoft's flagship operating system.

Yet turning up unbidden in productivity apps smacks of a 21st-century Clippy. Particularly when a hunt is required to find the setting that switches the damn thing off.

So much money is being poured in, and the AI bubble appears close to bursting. Perhaps the pinprick of reality which arises from actually asking what customers want before giving it to them is unthinkable.

After all, the benevolence of the tech industry has always looked after customers. Nobody asked for never-ending updates, and yet here we are. Constant redesigns and refinements of user interfaces rarely hit the top ten lists of feature requests, yet customers get them anyway.

Without a choice to opt in, the beatings will continue until AI adoption improves or users find that pesky opt-out option. ®