PEACE OF MIND WORKAROUNDS FOR AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere, even when we do not want it. From AI-generated slop posters that all look the same to AI-powered summaries of two-line emails, it can feel like the technology is inescapable. It does not help that the companies that develop the apps we use to get our work done (or doomscroll) are in a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ race to add AI features that often don’t seem to be ready for prime time. seem to be ready for prime time. 

For example, in July, the owner of Anna Mae’s Bakery in nearby Millbank started getting messages asking why the bakery was closing its doors. Owner Amanda Herrfort was confused for a good reason—the bakery was not closing. Google’s AI overview feature had confused her bakery with one in Illinois that was closing. For a small business like Anna Mae’s, the mistake could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. 

Across Canada and the U.S., there is growing concern about the environmental and economic impacts of the data centres needed to power AI platforms. The Province of Manitoba rejected a proposed data centre in June. 

“There’s a big threat to the environment and not much benefit to the economy,” Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba, told reporters at the Manitoba legislature. 

That same month, hundreds of people spoke out against a proposed data centre in Hamilton. After the feedback, the city declined the developer’s application. 

While the debate around data centres continues to grow, privacy experts are warning people and businesses about the potential risks of sharing data with AI platforms. The Government of Canada tabled new legislation in June that proposes to update Canada’s consumer privacy laws for the first time in over 25 years.  

Whether your AI concerns are for environmental, ethical or security reasons, there are ways to reduce your AI usage across your devices. Every operating system and app has its own settings, but here are a few high-level ways to disable some of the more well-known AI features out there. 

Users of Apple devices—from iPhones and iPads to MacBooks—can simply turn off Apple Intelligence in the device’s settings. This disables all of Apple’s AI features across Messages, Mail, Safari and other Apple-built applications. 

Android users have a few more settings to disable depending on the version of the operating system and device manufacturer. Google provides settings to disable AI tools in Gmail, Chrome, and Photos. Samsung users have the additional option of disabling Galaxy AI in their device settings. 

If you are a Microsoft Windows user, you can disable Microsoft Copilot in Office 365 apps like Excel and Word. Unfortunately, you cannot disable Copilot at the operating system level as it is part of Windows itself. 

There are multiple Google and Safari extensions that hide Google’s AI overviews. I have used “Hide Google AI Overviews” for a few days and have not noticed any other changes to the way I search. Alternatively, the DuckDuckGo browser offers a no AI version that you can use in any browser. You can find it at noai.duckduckgo.com. 

Lastly, if you really need to make a poster or graphic, avoid AI (though not completely) by using a free tool like Canva or Adobe Express. They provide multiple templates that are great starting points to create your own unique projects that will stand out from the slop.