How to Opt Out of AI

EDIT: This is an updated post as of June 2026. When I wrote this about 8 months ago, Google had started to use AI in it’s search results, but it hadn’t gone whole hog. Well, the hog is whole now and she’s COOKED. (I don’t know if that metaphor works, but it’s bad, y’all.) Now when users search, AI is not only the top answer, it’s also encouraging users to use more AI through their agents. In other words, instead, of the search result links people will focus more on acting on the information those agents provide. You can see that in this screenshot from a search about wildflowers.

See that ask anything? That’s becoming the default. Not links to the original creator.

This is disturbing in a lot of ways. I’ve previously written about how AI is making us dumber and harming the planet, but this is also (further) scraping the Internet and the work of artists and writers and passing it off as its own with no benefit to the site owner.

In the past year, AI search has killed a lot of websites. It’s definitely killed ads on websites that creators and bloggers relied on for an income. I’ve never fully relied on ads, but I can tell you that I’m making hundreds of dollars less than I was due to a decrease in eyeballs on my website. It’s taken information that we little people have put freely online to teach, to learn, to connect and to share and profiting from it. It’s straight up stealing. It’s another big reason not to use it or at least attempt to avoid it in this capitalist hellscape that is forcing AI use upon us.

I heard it described as technological rape and now I can’t unsee it.

AI is harming the planet and it’s making us dumber. With daily threats to democracy, we need critical thinking skills now more than ever. If you haven’t seen the copious amount of articles that have been published lately, the gist of it is this: AI uses a sh*t ton of fossil fuels, creates copious pollutants, and alarmingly, uses drinking water to cool the systems. It’s also frequently bad information and atrophying our cognitive abilities.

Here’s a few highlights:

• An “analysis shows that 52% of ChatGPT answers contain incorrect information.”

• “…for the average high school student who wants help with homework, relying on powerful AI tools is like using a nuclear-powered digital calculator.”

• The global AI demand is projected to account for 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027, which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of 4-6 Denmark or half of the United Kingdom.

• Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties.

AI is also is every.freaking.where. Folks seem to be using it as a stand-in word for helpful when in reality, it’s not. In fact, sometimes it’s actively harmful and a lot of the time, AI results and particularly ChatGPT just produce AI slop. It’s not helpful information. It’s uncreative and unsurprisingly, it’s wrong over 50% of the time.

I’m not a Luddite. I’m not opposed to all technology, but I truly think using AI irresponsibly and without critical thinking is dangerous. In a past life, I taught freshman students how to find and evaluate information. And although that was just a little over 10 years ago, how we find information today is staggeringly different. (If you want to learn more about how to identify misinformation, I’ve written some tactics here.)

Now, AI tools dominate the landscape and it’s seems impossible to avoid them, even if you’re trying to. But it’s still possible to do regular, degular searches and it’s still possible to use your good ‘ol brain.