How to disable or avoid intrusive AI

This guide addresses a common question at library Drop-In Time: how to disable or avoid intrusive AI. It is explicitly for people who want less AI in their tech environment, with a note that AI enthusiasts may not need it. The guide is available at NoToAI.org and welcomes contributions.

For Adobe, instructions cover Acrobat (Windows: Menu > Preferences > Generative AI; macOS: View > Preferences > Generative AI, then uncheck and save) and Reader (choose 'Disable new Acrobat Reader' from the top menu, approve the dialog, and restart). For Android/Gemini, users can try uninstalling the Gemini app; otherwise, turn off Gemini in Messages via Settings, disable Gemini Apps activity and Connected Apps, and reclaim the power button by changing Settings > System > Gestures > Press & Hold Power Button.

For Apple Intelligence and Siri (iPhone 16 and newer Macs/iPads), toggle off Apple Intelligence in Settings/System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri, confirm the dialog, and turn off the per-app 'Learn from this App' feature if desired. For browsers, Chrome users can disable AI Nano/GLIC and Gemini features via chrome://flags, setting all relevant entries to 'disabled', and Edge users can do similarly via edge://flags.