The entire Recall, thing is just blatant attempt to steal the user data, under the disguise of "AI" assist functionality. If Adobe can do this, why can't MS do the same, with enormously bigger userbase. No wonder, that MS backpedaled, as they were just only testing the waters. Be sure, they will return the thing, when the global attitude would become more "accepting". Just like only couple percent of people all across the globe, are really interested into AI and it's capabilities, the copilot and other AI "assistants" pop in regardless of people's will and without any preliminarily survey, whether they need/want it, or not. So what used to be lightweight and snappy programs and software, become the huge resource hog, without any option, to disable these "features" at all.
And this is absolute horror, for the companies which work with secret, or private projects, and have to use the Windows. The amount of private data, the project NDA data, etc, which could potentialy "leak" regardless the encryption, just because MS has a habit, to let the bugs "accidetnally""slip" into their updates. Of course, the companies most likely rely on Enterprise editions, including the employee's PCs. But what if someone works for oneself, and the entire labour can be just watched over and scanned real time, and sent to the HQ. Simultaneously feeding the LLM, with the data, that is didn't get the copyright protection yet.
I'm afraid, not for long. They'll find the way to make it some hidden task, not even showing in process list, or like recently, a part of other processes, like svhost, and other crucial core executables, making it mandatory to run. As much as adding new servers in the host, with each windows update, so users cannot avoid their Windows OS to constantly "calling home".
So, in other words, the foundation has been set many years ago.
The "balloon" here is gullible users.
AI cannot work without huuge amounts of training data. By overhyping AI's abilities, AI developers lure users to volunteer their data, so developers can enhance their models and build stronger commercial offerings. It is this (over)hype that I expect to fade over time.
This is true. However Ai is sadly here to stay. The users being forced, regardless of their free will. The more people will stay in the MS ecosystem, the more they will wind themselves in the quicksands. The other problem is, the moment MS Windows (theoretically) popularity would slip from them, the AI stuff with switch to whatever next popular OS.
Unfortunately, but cvaldes has a point here. No matter what people want, as much as people use the Windows OS, MS is able to do, whatever they want, and even stop supporting the HW, they don't like, so all current ones might render moot, and using it might indeed be akin to dreaming.
The problem is, many Windows users, are as much hostages, as Apple users. Many are just locked int their ecosystem, many just willingly support MS and their business, no matter what.
Why compare this to Apple? Windows costs you privacy… but you can build a windows computer and fix it when it breaks. An Apple computer gives you privacy and takes your ability to do anything with hardware away. Pick your poison. Both suck.
Apple just gives it's users a fancy premium illusion of freedom, a posh gaslighting, with silver lining. While Microsoft, just does this boldly and openly. Both companies have became the most valuable entities, not because of their great products, or services. The money lie into data mining and resell.
