If you are looking to reduce the role of artificial intelligence in your daily life, we have good news. There are steps you can take to limit AI-powered features on your devices, in your email and in your online searches.
Librarian Charlie Bailey has put together an entire slideshow to show you how.
Bailey works at the South Philly Free Library and says he regularly hears from patrons who are frustrated by the appearance of AI tools that they did not actively opt to use.
“AI tools that they didn’t ask for are just showing up everywhere in their digital lives and kind of being forced onto them,” Bailey said.
In response, Bailey created a workshop called “Avoiding AI,” and interest quickly exceeded expectations.
The Free Library’s first post about the workshop went viral on Instagram.
“We had tons of signups. We had to add another class in July,” Bailey said.
While Bailey acknowledges people cannot completely avoid AI, he said there are ways to reduce its presence in everyday technology.
“There are some ways you can take back some control,” Bailey said.
For users of newer Apple devices, Bailey recommends going into Settings and toggling off Apple Intelligence. Windows 11 users can uninstall Copilot, while Android users can press and hold to uninstall the Gemini app. Samsung phone users can also switch off features associated with Galaxy AI.
When it comes to email, Bailey recommends Proton Mail, which is an encrypted platform.
“They’re not reading and learning from your emails, which is a plus if you care about digital privacy in your data,” Bailey said.
Bailey also encourages people to consider search engines that do not emphasize AI-generated results. He said AI-generated search summaries can sometimes create confusion.
“It’s a huge source of misinformation,” Bailey said. “People will call the library asking about services that we don’t offer because Google’s AI overview said that we do offer it.”
As one alternative, Bailey pointed to NoAI.DuckDuckGo.com, where the company has turned off AI-assisted answers, AI-generated images and AI feature suggestions. He also noted that DuckDuckGo does not track or sell user data.
Bailey said people can further limit AI by reviewing individual apps and turning off options related to Learning and Suggesting. Bailey is sharing his entire slideshow of tips to Avoid AI here: here.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.