Libraries Are Going Viral for Teaching People How to Turn AI Off

Public libraries have spent decades helping people learn how to use computers, email, search engines and smartphones.
Now some libraries are teaching people how to turn artificial intelligence off.
Workshops titled “Avoiding AI” are attracting unusually large audiences and viral social-media attention.
Participants bring their phones and laptops while librarians demonstrate how to disable or reduce unwanted features such as Apple Intelligence, Gemini integrations, AI-generated search summaries and automated writing tools.
The sessions are not primarily anti-technology protests.
They are digital-literacy classes built around a simple principle:
People should understand when AI is present and have a meaningful choice about whether to use it. �
TechCrunch +1
Why Did the Workshops Begin?
Librarians noticed that increasing numbers of people were asking how to remove AI features that had appeared after device or software updates.
Some users did not remember requesting the tools.
They simply opened an email application, search engine or phone interface and discovered:
AI-generated summaries
Writing suggestions
Automatic image tools
Chatbot buttons
Transcription features
Intelligent notifications
Search answers generated above ordinary links
For technology enthusiasts, these features may feel convenient.
For other users, they feel intrusive.
The workshops emerged as a response to that gap between product deployment and user consent.
What Happens During an “Avoiding AI” Workshop?
Participants learn where artificial intelligence may be operating across their devices and online accounts.
A session may cover:
Disabling Apple Intelligence
Turning off Gemini features
Reducing AI summaries in search
Reviewing privacy settings
Identifying AI-generated content
Choosing non-AI software alternatives
Preventing personal material from being used for model improvement
Understanding which features cannot be fully removed
Recognising when AI is hidden behind ordinary product language
The goal is not to make everyone reject AI.
It is to help people make informed decisions.
Why Did a Library Workshop Go Viral?
Library events rarely become major internet stories.
That is precisely why this one attracted attention.
One workshop announcement reportedly received more than 2,000 likes and hundreds of shares on a library account whose ordinary posts attracted much smaller audiences. Some events developed waiting lists. �
AI Weekly +1
The response revealed a form of unmet demand.
Technology companies regularly teach people how to activate new features.
Far fewer institutions teach people how to decline them.
Libraries stepped into that missing role.
Is This an Anti-AI Movement?
Not necessarily.
A person can recognise the usefulness of AI while objecting to its automatic inclusion in every digital environment.
There is a difference between:
Choosing to open a chatbot
Discovering that AI now reads and summarises one’s email
There is also a difference between:
Asking AI to improve a paragraph
Having software analyse every paragraph by default
The workshops focus less on whether artificial intelligence is universally good or bad and more on whether the user remains in control.
Why Libraries Are the Perfect Place
Libraries have historically defended:
Access to knowledge
Privacy
Freedom of inquiry
Digital literacy
Community education
Informed choice
They help people use technology without selling them the technology.
That independence matters.
A workshop run by an AI company is likely to explain why its product is useful.
A librarian can explain both how to activate the tool and how to switch it off.
The institution does not need the user to become a customer.
The Psychology of Default Settings
Default settings are powerful because most people do not change them.
Users may lack time, technical confidence or awareness that another option exists.
When a company activates an AI feature automatically, adoption figures may rise even when enthusiasm does not.
The company can then announce that millions of people are “using” its AI.
But presence is not the same as preference.
A feature may be counted as adopted simply because users were never shown how to refuse it.
This is why defaults are not neutral technical decisions.
They shape behaviour.
Why Some People Want Less AI
People may avoid particular AI features because of:
Privacy concerns
Environmental concerns
Inaccurate summaries
Creative preferences
Workplace confidentiality
Copyright worries
Data usage
Mental overload
Desire for direct human communication
Preference for ordinary search results
Others may simply dislike a feature.
That should be sufficient.
A person should not need to construct an advanced ethical argument before being allowed to turn software off.
The Bigger AI Lesson
AI adoption should not become compulsory through interface design.
The strongest technology earns trust by making its value visible.
It should not need to hide inside updates, dominate every search page or make the opt-out process deliberately confusing.
Meaningful consent requires:
Clear notice
Understandable controls
Reversible choices
No punishment for declining
Honest explanations of what data is processed
An opt-out buried six menus deep is technically available but psychologically inaccessible.
Mary Chuks’ Perspective
Teaching people how to avoid AI is not an attack on AI.
It is part of responsible AI education.
Real digital confidence includes knowing:
When to use technology
How to use it
When not to use it
How to stop using it
A person who understands both adoption and refusal has more control than someone who follows either enthusiasm or fear blindly.
The future should not divide people into AI believers and AI rejecters.
It should create informed users who decide according to purpose.
Practical Takeaways
Consumers can begin by:
Reviewing AI settings after every major software update.
Checking whether email and document content is used for model training.
Turning off features that provide no meaningful value.
Comparing AI summaries with original sources.
Using direct search links when accuracy matters.
Asking employers which workplace data AI tools can access.
Learning how to delete stored AI conversations.
Supporting libraries that offer independent digital-literacy education.
Conclusion
The viral success of “Avoiding AI” workshops does not prove that the public hates artificial intelligence.
It proves that people want agency.
AI may become one of the most useful technologies of the century.
But usefulness should be demonstrated—not imposed through a software update.
Libraries are reminding the technology industry of a principle that should never have been forgotten:
A meaningful “yes” requires an accessible “no.”
Original Source and Further Reading
Original viral reporting: Amanda Silberling, TechCrunch, “Librarians Are Hosting Viral ‘Avoiding AI’ Workshops for People Who Are Fed Up With Big Tech,” published 25 July 2026. �
TechCrunch
Original event listing: Free Library of Philadelphia, “Avoiding AI: A Hands-On Workshop,” held at South Philadelphia Library on 28 July 2026. �
Free Library of Philadelphia
Professional context: American Library Association, “ALA Council Adopts Guidance on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Libraries,” published 16 July 2026. �
American Library Association