The price of Microsoft 365, the cloud productivity suite, will increase as it adds the company’s artificial intelligence functions. According to an advertisement Microsoft Asia, suite client subscriptions (Personal and Family) They will include Copilot by default, with the consequent price increase once it is time to renew. It has been tested in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, but it is not ruled out that it will reach Europe or America.
It’s not unusual for Microsoft to test new subscription offerings regionally before launching them into the global market. That’s exactly what this ad looks like, although at the moment it may seem “a free addition” is being criticized under various arguments that can be read in Reddit:
“I’m supposed to put up with unwanted software packages that I never accepted that consume CPU cycles on my hardware…why does Microsoft need to prove that its investment in AI is generating a return on investment for investors?”.
“Does Microsoft not understand that graduate or doctoral students receive an automatic failing grade or are charged with academic misconduct for any hint of AI assistance in their writing?”
And it is that not everyone needs or wants AI in their productivity apps. The problem is the one reported in ZDnet that has echoed the information: Microsoft’s Copilot AI is coming to your Office apps, whether you like it or not. It must be said that Microsoft already has specific subscription programs to market its AI services, Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Copilot to consumers and businesses, respectively. And so they should continue, for independent purchase, but Microsoft’s commercial needs are different.
The ‘pasture’ invested by those from Redmond in OpenAI and AI technologies is colossal. And it’s going to end up costing your customers money, whether they want it or not.. Of course, users may end up getting tired of having a product that they once paid for changed without permission and that with the deep integration of artificial intelligence functions may end up becoming something else. Or the price increase if the base option is not maintained in the future, without Copilot.
In this scenario, it must be noted again that alternatives exist, and they are excellent, sufficient for the vast majority of users. On the one hand, the local Office suite if you want to continue with Microsoft applications or others like LibreOffice, totally free, open source and without burdensome AI functions that probably do not interest you.
Regarding Microsoft’s strategy, when asked about plans to introduce similar features in the United States and Europe, a spokesperson contacted by ZDnet threw the ball out: «The company has implemented changes in six markets to listen, learn and improve. We have nothing more to share today.
Source: www.muycomputer.com
