Microsoft, through LinkedIn, has decided to feed its shiny new generative AI tools with the thing it never has enough of, your data.
Posts, comments, and profile updates are all considered delicious fuel for the algorithms. The idea is simple enough: train their AI to be more helpful, more fluent, and more “human sounding” by letting it gorge on the language and experiences you share. What LinkedIn sees as progress, however, feels a little different to those of us who would rather our musings on career changes and Monday morning motivation weren’t being served up as training fodder without so much as a polite invitation or payment for training…
The rationale from Microsoft’s side is easy to see. AI models are only as good as the information they are trained on, and LinkedIn holds one of the world’s largest professional datasets. It is a ready made goldmine of expertise, industry chatter, and the everyday language of work. Why would they not want to tap into that well? From their perspective, more data equals better AI, better AI equals more value, and more value means more people staying on LinkedIn. It is a neat little business circle.
The danger, though, sits squarely with profile holders. Firstly, your words can be repurposed in ways you never intended, shaping tools and outputs far removed from your professional identity. Secondly, once data has been consumed by AI, you cannot get it back out again. Turning off the setting today does not erase yesterday’s usage. Thirdly, it normalises a culture where what you share for networking is quietly harvested for purposes you were never asked about. It is not an opt in, it is an opt out, which is a very corporate way of saying, “We assumed you would be fine with this, so we saved you the trouble of agreeing.”
Humour may be the only sensible reaction here. Opt in would have meant a clear choice, a moment to read and consider. Opt out is more like being handed a mystery sandwich at a conference buffet, only to be told afterwards that you should have declined if you didn’t fancy tuna.
For those who would rather their contributions to the world of work remain on their profiles rather than in Microsoft’s AI kitchen, here is the quick fix.
Log into LinkedIn and click on your profile picture to get to Settings and Privacy.
Go to Data Privacy.
Find the section called “Data for Generative AI Improvement.” On my screen, it’s at the bottom of the section headed “How LinkedIn Uses Your Data”
Toggle it from Yes to No.
That’s it. One small switch takes you from feeding the machine to keeping your content where you left it.
