What is Ask Microsoft?
Ask Microsoft is an AI-powered assistant that answers questions about Microsoft's products and services. It is available as a chat assistant on selected Microsoft websites. In addition, some emails Microsoft sends can accept replies that allow you to ask questions about those products and services. Where that is the case, the email tells you so, and Ask Microsoft answers the question you send.
Frequently asked questions about Ask Microsoft email replies
Why did I receive an AI-generated reply?
You replied to an email from Microsoft with a question, and Ask Microsoft generated a response to it. Each response is a one-time email generated using AI to reply to your message. If you do not reply to it, the conversation will not continue. If you would rather contact us directly, go to Microsoft Support.
What can Ask Microsoft do in email?
Using a selected corpus of Microsoft product and support knowledge, Ask Microsoft is able to surface and send emails in response to questions you asked. It replies only when you write to an enabled Ask Microsoft email and will not start new generative conversations on its own.
What is Ask Microsoft’s intended use?
Ask Microsoft is designed to assist you with any follow up questions or issues you reply to a Microsoft email. It will do so either by replying directly in thread in response to a question or redirecting your needs to a sales or support channel that may be able to better assist.
How do I end the conversation?
You can end it at any time, in either of these ways:
- Reply and tell us you do not want to continue. Ask Microsoft will stop responding to end the current conversation.
- Stop replying. Ask Microsoft only responds when you write to us, so the conversation ends if you do not reply.
There is also a limit on how many replies Ask Microsoft will send in one conversation. When that limit is reached, we will let you know how to continue with a person if you want to.
Can I speak to a person instead?
Yes. Reply and ask to be connected with someone, and we will point you to the right sales or support channel. We will also do this if your question is better handled by a person, or if the conversation reaches its reply limit.
When your conversation moves to a person or to another Microsoft channel, a summary of it may be shared so that whoever helps you has the context.
How was Ask Microsoft evaluated, and what metrics are used to measure performance?
Ask Microsoft's responses are reviewed and scored against sample customer questions and expert responses. Additionally, responses are monitored for relevance and groundedness in truth.
What are the limitations of Ask Microsoft?
Ask Microsoft uses AI to generate answers, and AI-generated content may be incorrect. Please make sure to double-check the information provided. If an answer does not look right, reply and ask to be connected with a person, or go to Microsoft Support.
Ask Microsoft answers the question you asked using the sources approved for the email you received, so it may not be able to help with unrelated topics. Ask Microsoft will also not answer questions that violate Microsoft's Responsible AI policies.
For another question, or to report an issue Reply to the email and tell us what went wrong. Please do not include personal information in your reply. You can also contact Microsoft Support.
Privacy
Does replying change my email contact preferences?
Replying to Ask Microsoft does not change your contact preferences. Ask Microsoft is only used to generate an email reply in response to a question or issue. If you end the conversation, Ask Microsoft will stop replying to that conversation.
If you do want to change your email contact preferences, please visit the Promotional Communications Manager.
Is my reply used to train AI models?
No. Your replies are not used to train AI models. Messages are scrubbed of personal information before they are used for any thematic inferences across responses. Lastly, your replies are also used to check that Ask Microsoft’s responses are relevant and grounded in truth.
Does Microsoft process or retain any data when I'm using the service?
Microsoft may collect, process and retain your messages and related metadata (such as timestamps and usage information) in accordance with the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Ask Microsoft has been built on the Azure OpenAI service which processes some data related to service use, including prompts submitted by users. For example, the Azure OpenAI service includes a content management system that works alongside the models to filter potentially harmful content. This system works by running both the input prompt and generated completion through an ensemble of classification models aimed at detecting misuse.
The Azure OpenAI service also stores prompts and completions for up to 30 days to monitor content and/or behaviors that suggest use of the service in a manner that may violate applicable product terms. For more information, see the "Data, privacy and security" section of the Azure OpenAI documentation.
Detailed information on data practices and processing in Azure OpenAI is available in their documentation.
Does Ask Microsoft process or store any data outside of the Azure OpenAI uses?
When you reply to the Ask Microsoft agent, Microsoft may process your email messages and related metadata to operate and provide the service as requested, to troubleshoot issues, and to diagnose errors.
If you want to exercise your data protection rights for your personal data processed by Microsoft, you can always contact Microsoft at the address in the How to contact us section or by visiting our privacy support and requests page.