AI-Fatigued Users: Librarians Are Teaching How to Disable AI Systems

Although artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly gaining popularity in the world of modern technology, not all users are welcoming this innovation. On the contrary, the mandatory integration of AI features into devices by major tech companies is causing objections from many people. Therefore, special workshops on avoiding AI and completely disabling it on devices are becoming popular in US libraries. Techcrunch.com reports this.

Organized by South Philadelphia librarian Charlie Bailey, the classes titled "Avoiding AI" sparked unexpectedly high interest. In an interview with TechCrunch, Bailey noted that people are tired of tools they did not ask for and that are being forced into their daily lives. In his classes, adults are learning how to block systems like Apple Intelligence and Gemini provided by Google on their smartphones.

According to the librarian, such training is part of digital literacy, serving to restore user control over their technological choices. In many modern devices, AI features are designed in such a way that opting out of them has become a rather technically complex process for the average user.

Protest against mandatory innovation

One of the founders of this movement, Maine librarian Hannah Cyrus, says that people often come with simple questions: "Why is this system trying to write an email for me?" or "Why is it summarizing a single-sentence message that I can read myself?". Users are dissatisfied with the interference of artificial intelligence in their personal data and daily workflows.

Ms. Cyrus noted that while computer literacy classes usually attracted only a few people, registration for the workshops on disabling AI had to be closed ahead of schedule. Demand was so high that the sessions were also livestreamed via the Zoom platform. This shows that there is a unique resistance in society against the "AI everywhere" policy of giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

During the workshops, participants are assisted in the following main areas:

• Blocking AI chatbots on smartphones and computers;
• Stopping automatic text generation features in email services;
• Hiding AI-generated summaries in search engines;
• Banning the use of personal data for training AI models.

Librarians believe that technological progress should leave the user with a choice. Currently, dozens of specialists worldwide are contacting Hannah Cyrus asking for training materials on these workshops. This trend may force tech companies in the future to pay more attention to user preferences when introducing their products.