WHY IS AI SUDDENLY APPEARING EVERYWHERE I LOOK? (AND HOW CAN I TURN IT OFF?)

Introduction

If you've noticed AI popping up in places you didn't ask for it, you're not imagining things. I'm sure you are aware that Google Search now puts AI-generated summaries at the top of results, which can be a real pain if that's not what you want. Microsoft Word suggests rewrites and completions while you're typing. Your phone offers AI features you never requested. Apps you've used for years suddenly have "AI-powered" buttons you didn't want.

It's intrusive, it's annoying, and you're right to be frustrated. The good news is that most of it can be turned off, and you're not required to use any of it. Wahay!!

Where AI is suddenly appearing

AI features are showing up in places where software used to just do what you told it to without offering opinions or suggestions. Here are the most common intrusions people complain about.

Google Search now displays AI-generated summaries (called "AI Overviews") at the top of many search results, pushing the actual website links further down the page. These summaries are AI's interpretation of what it found, not the original sources, and as you have probably noticed, they're often wrong or incomplete or simply not what you want.

Microsoft products including Word, Outlook, and Excel have Copilot features that offer to rewrite your text, suggest completions, or summarize documents. These pop up while you're working, interrupting your flow to offer help you didn't request - or need.

Phone features on both iPhone and Android now include AI-powered tools for photo editing, message suggestions, call screening, and various other tasks. Some are genuinely useful, but they're presented as if everyone wants them when many people don't.

Apps you already use have added "AI" buttons and features, often prominently displayed and hard to ignore. Photo apps want to AI-enhance your pictures, note-taking apps want to AI-summarize your notes, and productivity apps want to AI-organize your tasks.

Why it's suddenly everywhere

This isn't happening because these features are so good that companies couldn't wait to share them. It's happening because of business pressure and competition, not user demand.

Every major tech company is in an AI arms race where they're terrified of being left behind if competitors add AI features and they don't. It doesn't matter whether users actually want these features - what matters is that the company can say "we have AI too" to investors and the media.

Product strategy has shifted from "what do users need?" to "how do we demonstrate we're using AI?" because that's what investors want to hear. Companies are adding AI to everything, even when it doesn't improve the product, because not having AI makes them look outdated.

Investor pressure drives much of this because AI has become a buzzword that affects stock prices, and companies without an "AI strategy" are seen as falling behind, so product teams are under pressure to add AI features whether or not they make sense for users.

Fear of disruption means companies are throwing AI at every product to avoid the risk that some startup will create an AI-powered version that steals their users. It's defensive product development - add it first, figure out if it's useful later.

What's actually AI vs what's being called AI

Part of why everything suddenly feels like "AI" is that companies are relabeling existing features to jump on the trend. Not everything called "AI" is actually the new generative AI technology people are talking about.

Real new AI features use large language models (the technology behind ChatGPT) to generate text, images, or other content. Examples include AI writing assistants that draft emails, AI chatbots that answer questions, or AI image generators that create pictures from descriptions.

Rebranded old features were already doing smart things using machine learning, but companies are now calling them "AI" for marketing purposes. Your spam filter has always used machine learning - calling it "AI-powered spam detection" doesn't mean it's changed, just that the marketing has.

The distinction matters because the new AI features are the ones that are genuinely different (and often more intrusive), while the rebranded ones are things you've been using successfully for years without thinking about them.

How to turn off the intrusive stuff

You don't have to accept any of this. Here's how to disable or minimize the most common AI intrusions.

Google AI Overviews

To reduce or eliminate AI summaries in Google Search results, you have a few options. You can add "&udm=14" to the end of any Google search URL to see traditional results without AI summaries, though this requires manually editing the URL each time. Some browser extensions like Bye Bye, Google AI* automatically remove AI overviews from your search results. Alternatively, you can switch to search engines that don't use AI summaries at all, like DuckDuckGo or switching your default search to traditional Google results.

Microsoft Copilot in Word and Office

To disable Copilot suggestions in Microsoft Word, go to File > Options > General, then scroll down and uncheck "Enable Copilot" or similar options depending on your version. In Office 365, you can also go to your Microsoft 365 admin center and disable Copilot for your account entirely. If you're using Word on the web, look for the Copilot icon in the toolbar and there should be a settings option to disable it.

iPhone AI features (Apple Intelligence)

On iPhone, go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and you can disable various AI features individually. You can turn off writing tools, disable Siri suggestions, and control which apps have access to AI features. Not all features can be completely disabled, but you can minimize their intrusiveness.

Android AI features

On Android phones, go to Settings > Google > Google AI and you'll find options to disable various AI features. You can also go to Settings > Apps and disable AI features for individual apps. Google Assistant can be disabled or limited through Settings > Google > Search, Assistant & Voice > Google Assistant.

App-specific AI features

For individual apps that have added AI features, look for settings within the app (usually under Settings > Advanced or Settings > AI Features). Many apps let you disable AI suggestions, hide AI buttons, or opt out of AI processing. If an app doesn't let you turn off AI features and you find them intrusive enough, consider switching to alternative apps that don't have them.

What you should know about "turning it off"

Some AI features can be completely disabled, but others are more complicated to remove because they're baked into how the product works now.

Disabling visible AI features (like suggestions and summaries) is usually straightforward - there's a setting you can toggle off. But some AI is now so fundamental to how the product functions, like how search results are ranked or how content is organized, that you can't separate that from the service itself.

Browser extensions and third-party tools can help block or remove AI features that companies won't let you disable directly. These work by modifying how websites and apps appear in your browser, essentially hiding the AI features even though they're still technically there. I would suggest only adding extensions lik ethese if you are comfortable about doing so.

Switching products entirely is sometimes the best option if a service has become too AI-heavy and you can't turn off enough of it. For example, if Google Search is too AI-focused for your liking, switching to DuckDuckGo gives you a clean search experience without AI summaries.

You're not required to use any of this

The most important thing to understand is that you have no obligation to use AI features just because companies are adding them everywhere. These are optional tools, not requirements, and many of them will probably disappear or be revised when companies realize people aren't using them.

Your workflow doesn't need to change just because Microsoft added Copilot to Word. Your search habits don't need to adjust because Google added AI summaries. You can continue using technology exactly as you did before, just with the added step of disabling the new features you don't want.

Companies are experimenting with AI in every product to see what sticks. Most of these experiments will fail or be significantly revised based on user feedback. You're not falling behind by ignoring them, you are being sensible about not adopting every new feature that appears and you declining to use AI features you don't want will add to the feedback.

The AI features that genuinely improve your experience will become obvious over time, and you can choose to enable those when they actually solve a problem you have. Everything else can stay turned off without any consequence.

If you're using a work computer

If you mainly use computers at work you may not have permission to install extensions or change settings. Your IT department controls these restrictions for security reasons. You can ask them to disable intrusive AI features, though be prepared for them to say no - corporate IT policies often don't accommodate individual preferences. In that case, your options are limited to work-arounds like manually adding '&udm=14' to Google searches or using the alternative search engines I mentioned above, that don't require installation - again only as long as your company IT policies allow their use.

*Browser extensions like 'Bye Bye, Google AI' (search for it in your browser's extension store - Chrome Web Store for Chrome, Firefox Add-ons for Firefox) can automatically remove AI overviews. Installing browser extensions is straightforward: search for the extension name in your browser's store, click 'Add' or 'Install,' and it works immediately. If you've never installed a browser extension before, here's a simple guide for Chrome or this one for Firefox.

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