The decision has been criticized for being a "privacy mess", with calls for Slack to have opted users out by default and taken an opt-in approach instead. Slack's AI page, which states "Your data is your data. We don't use it to train Slack AI", has also been called misleading as the company is indeed using user data to train some of its machine learning models. The article also mentions that Squarespace, a website hosting and design platform, similarly does not opt users out of AI tool training by default.
Key takeaways:
- Slack is using its users' data to train its machine learning features, and everyone is opted-in by default.
- Users and companies are not opted out by default, and only companies or workspace administrators can request to have their content opted out of the training dataset.
- Many users and industry professionals have criticized Slack's decision, arguing that the company should have taken an opt-in approach instead.
- Other tech platforms, like Squarespace, also do not opt users out of AI tool training by default, and users must manually navigate through the platform's settings to opt-out.