Zoom retracts its policy allowing the usage of user data for AI training

Given the huge success and widespread use of AI, tech companies are trying to seize every opportunity that could help them train their AI models. In this perspective, Zoom changed its terms of service and used customer data from chats to train AI models. The company received criticism for this decision and now has decided to revert the changes.

The changes introduced by the company were introduced as Customer Content back in March. As per the changes, the company had the right to use customer content for machine learning and AI training and testing. Such modifications raised questions regarding the ethical limitations adopted by Zoom. For this reason, the company has shared a blog post to clarify its take on the previous changes. The company now claims that it won’t get involved in the same activities again.

Despite the aforementioned, Zoom will not use audio, video, or chat Customer Content without your permission to train our artificial intelligence models. The use of audio, video, or chat customer content to train our artificial intelligence models is prohibited, and we have revised our terms of service to reflect this, according to Zoom.

What is the Zoom IQ feature?

The Zoom IQ feature works by using AI to make a summary of chat discussions and generate automatic responses for text-based queries. Before using this feature, users are required to give consent before using the tools. Zoom users who use IQ-enabled calls are presented with just two options, i.e., “Leave Meeting” and a “Got it” button. It indicates that even if a user doesn’t exit the call, the company will still use the customer content to train its AI, irrespective of the user’s decision.