It tells me it fails to do whatever it was trying to do. I decide to ignore it and turn off everything it turned on.

I finally open Word.

The document I wanted to edit is actually in my Google Drive.

Microsoft AutoUpdater launches. I learn that along with Teams, I now also have Microsoft Defender, a security package I do not want and suspect I don't need. I open it to see what it does, and it immediately adds a bunch of stuff that works in the background. Great.

I launch Word. It needs a login. It uses its own embedded webview, which means I cannot use my password manager. That is okay because it would really rather I install outlook on my phone and click a button in that to log in instad for some reason. I finally log in.

It also installs "Microsoft AutoUpdate", which helpfully tells me the installer I downloaded was already 6 versions out of date.

The installer installs Word (which is what I want), but also installs, automatically launches, and then sets to run at startup a copy of Microsoft Teams (an app which nobody has ever used voluntarily.

Clicking it opens a dropdown, but I can't select any of the options because I am immediately redirected to the "Subscriptions" section of my account, where I am informed that office is now $40 more because of all the wonderful AI in it. After a second, a popup appears finally offering an installer.

Office.com takes me to a Copilot chat screen. I ask what to do and it tells me to go to the webpage I am on and click a button that no longer exists. I eventually find the button in the "Apps" section.

$200 airpods sound almost as good as the pair of skullcandys I bought from 7 Eleven in 2009

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

Grant Petty never change.