How to Opt Out of AI Tools or Training Made by Big Tech

AI Is a Waste of Time

The newest AI tools are accelerating basic research and scaring the general public. But many people are simply using them as toys.

Please Stop Making Me Opt Out of AI

I’m sick of “opt-out” toggles for automatically enabled generative AI features. It’s past time to make “opt in” the default setting for sensitive features.

The solution might be cancelling my AI subscription

I find this post by David Wilson very relatable. David lists 16+ projects he's spun up with AI tooling, and concludes: I didn't mean to build most of these things. …

The solution might be cancelling my AI subscription

I find this post by David Wilson very relatable. David lists 16+ projects he's spun up with AI tooling, and concludes: I didn't mean to build most of these things. …

LukeW | Common AI Product Issues

At this point, almost every software domain has launched or explored AI features. Despite the wide range of use cases, most of these implementations have been t...

Have it both ways: stay discoverable in search while disallowing AI training

Cloudflare is giving site owners a way to stay discoverable while disallowing AI training. New controls and an Accountable designation establish a shared model with Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

I'm done using AI

Why I'm stopping using AI for coding (and anything else) after using it earnestly for a year and coming to understand the harms it causes on personal, societal, and environmental levels.

Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good

Reliance on artificial-intelligence tools degrades the abilities of physicians and software engineers, studies show.

Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

I’m tired of this phrase and this simple way of thinking about tools. This blog post is a wandering train of thought on the topic of what tools are and why it matters to be even slightly more mature in how we think about them.

Open source project contains hidden instruction for “AI” agents: delete my code

It’s no secret there’s a war going on inside the open source community, with people adopting “AI” on one side, and those that want nothing to do with it on the other. While the former are, by nature, using destructive tactics like mass website scraping, license washing, taking people’s creative works without permission, taking all the RAM and GPUs, and oh, destroying the planet, the latter have mostly stuck to fairly benign things like policies banning “AI” use, “AI” bot blockers, and the occasional honey pot mazes to trap “AI” crawlers.

Meet the academics refusing to use generative AI

Researchers say they have their reasons for avoiding AI tools — and they’re sick of arguing about it.

Meet the academics refusing to use generative AI

Researchers say they have their reasons for avoiding AI tools — and they’re sick of arguing about it.

Microsoft’s AI Red Team Has Already Made the Case for Itself

Since 2018, a dedicated team within Microsoft has attacked machine learning systems to make them safer. But with the public release of new generative AI tools, the field is already evolving.

How to disable or avoid intrusive AI – librarian.net

One of the biggest questions I get at Drop-In Time at the library (besides “what is taking up all my cloud storage?”) is how to disable or avoid intrusive AI that shows up where people don’t want it. I’m going to make a handout that explains how to do some of the basic AI-removal or AI-avoidance things. This is a guide for people who would like less intrusive AI in their tech environment. Maybe you like AI and find it useful? That’s fine, this document is probably not for you. Additions/edits welcome. Leave a comment or drop me an email.

Where is all the new, good software?

Here's a question we see, especially from AI skeptics: if AI coding is so great, shouldn't we be seeing more new, good software by now? Here are some answ...