Opt Out of AI Updates

[maybmockingbird]

I got the new Square email that boasts a ton of "great" updates with a ton of AI integration that I do not want to be a part of or opt into. I am an author and I sell ebooks, so having my work up in full along with my cover photos, business information, etc. with a vague AI Agent running in the background does not make me feel overly secure about continued use of Square. I asked one of the reps and they said "there's no off switch you just don't have to use it", which doesn't make me feel all that confident that Square isn't absorbing our products to train something without our consent or ability to turn it off. Anyone know any ways to circumvent this idiotic program from running non-stop in the background? I really don't want to have to move hosts since I'd have to re-do so much of my branding and waste so much time, but I'm uncomfortable with not being able to opt out of a program that stands against everything creatives are for. The backend stuff really isn't my forte (that's one reason I use Square and Weebly is so I didn't have to code or spend a ton of time on updates every week) so any advice on protection against this and options is appreciated!

[Minion]

HI @maybmockingbird 

Are you referring to the roadmap?  I only see one large AI function on the horizon, and it looks to me to be more tailored to when you use the AI search integration within your dashboard for  when running reports, or diving into your personal sales history, trends etc.  

Maybe @TheRealChipA or @JTPets  may have some further insights, they are more up to par on AI than I am. 

[TheRealChipA]

Hi there @maybmockingbird.. So I have been involved in Square AI pretty much from the beginning.  When I started, I had to be convinced, trust me.  But I can set your mind at ease here now that I have worked with this.

First, Square AI has only been trained on our sales and other Square account data.  It does not look at our actual websites.  It does look at our item catalogs and such, but only for the purposes of accessing data it needs to allow us to run our own ad-hoc reports rather than have to wait for engineers to create new reports.  I can't see your data.  You can't see mine.  In fact, there is no way to say "compare my sales or compare my numbers" to other Square sellers like me.  Square AI has been developed purely as a tool to allow us to have more insights into our sales numbers, sales patterns and such.

Second, there is one other function of Square AI that is not related to our specific accounts, at all.  This is help.  Square AI has been trained on Square's help documents, videos, etc, so that we can quickly ask "how do I" or "can I' questions and, hopefully, it will return steps or at least references to documents for us to learn more from.

That is pretty much the scope of Square AI.  It has no visibility to branding and such.  Other than that, it does not in any way share what it learns about your account with anyone except authorized users of your account.  Even then they/you must be signed into your square dashboard to access that data.

That being said, the beta for this is still ongoing.  So I am going to pass your post along to my contact with that beta test.  The account-level functionality to "turn off" Square AI, period, for our accounts is not necessarily a bad one at all.  But I'm not sure you want to let your knee-jerk initial reaction of "AI always bad" drive your decision making here.  I'm never going to be a fan of, say, ChatGPT and such.  But Square is developing a very targeted and useful tool for business owners to grow their businesses, and I'm never one to turn down a powerful tool such as it has become.

[alexschiff]

Hi @maybmockingbird ! PM on Square AI here -- first, thank you for sharing your concerns. I have friends and family that work in the arts so I totally get where you're coming from around what is/isn't being used for training.

@TheRealChipA , as usual, did a great job of overviewing what Square AI does and does not do and how we converted him!

I wanted to add on top of that the feature you're asking about -- at least the AI part -- doesn't do anything without you actually asking it to do so. We do not send your data to any model (whether trained by us or using an API from Open AI, Claude, etc) without you actually asking a question. When we do leverage third-party models, we set up the flow of data so that they are only used for processing, and no data is ever retained for training (unlike if you just type into the free versions of many of these products). Speaking as the person who worked directly on this, we didn't build a way to turn it off because there's nothing actually to turn off besides a button or text in put field. I suppose there could be a way to remove the button and text box, but it would not change anything about what happens (or in this case does not happen) with your data. It would also create more "forks" in the Square UX that tend to introduce bugs, or slow down access to new features. 

That said, there are many things we think AI can do to help you proactively that would be a game-changer -- again, not in the spirit of training on your data, but bringing information to you like a surge in a particular item at a particular time, a repeat customer that hasn't returned, etc. Needle in the haystack type stuff that can catch problems before they turn into lost revenue (or missed opportunities to grow revenue). Your concern is well-taken that this running in the background might be something we want to allow people to opt out of, but I hope we can show it will be valuable, safe, and transparent enough that you won't want to!   

[maybmockingbird]

Hi Alex,

While I understand that it's your job to promote your product so you'll do whatever you can to make it seem appealing, and I completely understand that so I am not upset by your response, not allowing people to opt out/have a say in this is a bad look and I refuse to be quiet about it since it is problematic and cause for concern. I feel as if the feedback needs to be heard so we can try to combat these rising problems.

Forcing a system into play that will cause many users like myself to leave is telling about Square's priorities. Completely redoing your entire system around an AI to where its inner workings would bug out without having it active is abhorrent. We should not have our ability to choose be taken away from us in regard to something as dangerous as this simply because it's "good business" for a corporation. Meanwhile it actively harms the planet, consumes water, is creating health issues and increasing laziness, while often being trained and taking data without consent. It is NOT a good look. I do not want an AI running at all times in the background, I do not want to engage with it or be anywhere near it. I do not NEED it to analyze data and reports that I already handle myself. I am a small author with timed releases and discounts, I know when my income increases are happening. I don't need an AI to tell me information that I am smart enough to gather on my own.

I do not want to give my time, energy, or money going to something as problematic as an AI that is implemented because of laziness and trendiness; it's already hard enough to talk to a real person who is educated on the issues I have when it comes to the Square platform, especially when I have timely issues, so an AI helpbot is a massive turn off when it comes to continued use with Square.

My brand does NOT need this, I am a people-focused creator who collaborates with real artists and editors, and I know my audience and collaborators well. They will be against this and I will lose business and members of my team if they find out there's an AI program running on my site even if I do not consent to it or want it. I do not want to interact with or use this, it is against my morals and something that makes me so uncomfortable that I am looking at completely switching platforms, despite the fact I have been a user since 2015. It is disrespectful to think that everyone will just be okay with this. Please reconsider allowing people to make choices in this, creatives are already so hurt by AI with the loss of business as well as so much theft, we don't need our sources of income also betraying us like this. I appreciate you logging my feedback and views on this since it is a bigger problem than "it's a helpful tool and we'll convince you it is!" as it makes Square look less reliable and trustworthy.

[TheRealChipA]

@maybmockingbird I’m going to back away, now. We officially moved from a simple query on your part to something I’m not at all qualified to discuss. My opinions here are now meaningless. I’ll leave it to you and Alex and other Square folks to discuss amongst yourselves. This “discussion” has progressed way above my grade! Ha. 

But I’ll still be watching the give and take, because I’m interested. As a skeptic AND as someone who sees value for me in this new feature while understanding your legitimate trepidations. 

That makes this thread highly intriguing to me. I’ve voiced similar concerns, as Alex will no doubt confirm. But since I had no “skin in the game” as it were as a creative, my trepidations are not nearly as important to consider. 

Best.