Slack AI Training Backlash

Slack is under fire this week as the internet seemed to discover that user data from all Slack instances, paid or not, are being used to train Slack’s AI model, unless you opt out.

From Ars Technica - Slack users horrified to discover messages used for AI training.

This is a really bad look, and maybe they’ll back off of this given the backlash, but to me it isn’t the key issue. If large companies can get away with it, they will absolutely use your data for this kind of thing. Even if they think it will result in a lawsuit, they will likely make more money from it than they would lose in a lawsuit. The problem is our privacy laws. Companies do this because they can. That’s the part that needs to change.

Absolutely bare minimum, it should be illegal to update any data usage policy like this and make it opt-out, but there really should be a lot more than that. In this case, it’s honestly not even clear what Slack’s policy even is, but even if they back track, someone else will do it in the future if they can.

We desperately need updated privacy laws in this country, or companies will keep pushing the boundaries of how they can use our information to make money for themselves.