I'm an author trying to write books. My job has become harder since MS introduced Copilot. Are you frustrated, too?

At first it was the sense of invasion. Um, no, I don't want to use AI and I don't want AI to access my work, thanks. There are better uses for AI. Why would I give up my ability to create - the very thing that gives me joy?

Then it was the frustration. How do I turn this thing off?

Copilot sits in the margin of my Word document, waiting for me to accidentally click it (which happens regularly if I try to place the cursor at the start of a new line). If I use Ctrl+V to paste something, options to paste with Copilot pop up and won't go away until I start typing. All this in addition to the Copilot icon being perpetually visible on the toolbar. I get it! Copilot is available!

It's intrusive and annoying, and I can't switch it off. I use the online version of Word on my Chromebook and I've searched exhaustively and tried many solutions, but there is no way to switch Copilot off in the online version.

Why don't you use Google docs, I hear you ask? Why should I, I reply? I've always written in Word, and I pay for a MS subscription. I was perfectly happy with it until these intrusive and irritating changes occurred during 2024.

I know I'm not the only one. There is so much money in generative AI and big tech wants us to become reliant. We don't have to accept this imposition. Demand your right to choose.

Microsoft, we pay you to give us a system to create. Give us to option to decline AI tools in our own creative work.