It may sound like superstitious nonsense, but I struggle to think of a better way to describe something that’s:
- An incredible potential to help humanity as an assistive technology working quietly in the background of our lives, roaring instead loudly enough to 🔗cause hypertension, heart palpitations, chest pain, vertigo, tinnitus, migraines, panic attacks.
“Many people equate the word “daemon” with the word “demon”, implying some kind of satanic connection between UNIX and the underworld. This is an egregious misunderstanding. “Daemon” is actually a much older form of “demon”; daemons have no particular bias towards good or evil, but rather serve to help define a person’s character or personality. The ancient Greeks’ concept of a “personal daemon” was similar to the modern concept of a “guardian angel”—eudaemonia is the state of being helped or protected by a kindly spirit. As a rule, UNIX systems seem to be infested with both daemons and demons.”
— Evi Nemeth, Unix System Administration Handbook
- Makes itself known with 🔗belching toxic smog, making a Hell on Earth where people can’t breathe.
- A face-stealer that can turn a lie about someone into truth with a few strokes on a keyboard (🔗often for a few strokes of something else 😬).
- A virtual sycophant who 🔗convinces people they’re the next Messiah while destroying their marriage.
I do not think GenAI is evil by nature, but by application and influence. How it’s being used, what for and by who. There is a difference between ethical, assistive AI technology and the Planet Boiling Art Theft Machines made by those in power serving Profit instead of People at 🔗global expense of lives and livelihoods. I’ve found the way I defend myself and my devices from slopbots and scraping is very similar to exorcism and other spiritual maintenance in terms of discernment and vigilance.
Ways to exorcise the Planet Boiling Art Theft Machine and have more privacy and peace online
- Do a digital inventory, some social media scrubbing and look for other leaks. I generally assume anything I’ve uploaded has already or could be scraped.
- Go analog, work offline where and when you can. I’ve been transitioning back to using pen, paper and thumb drives. Though the internet is an invaluable social tool, sometimes it’s nice to disconnect and not be as accessible to advertisers.
- Sloperators and scammers are constantly generating content, so it can be impossible to completely avoid. Engaging with them is like using ChatGPT with extra steps. Block, mute, restrict, whatever option a platform has for removing GenAI related keywords, phrases, accounts and tags to see less, save your scrolling, time and energy.
- Buy older, thrifted and refurbished electronics that predate AI integration. The cobalt used in the batteries of devices like cellphones, laptops, and electric vehicles is mined under 🔗subhuman, grinding, degrading conditions.
- Unless needed and/or you trust the developer, turn off any “smart” features in apps that “learn” in some way from your use. When an app you’re concerned about updates, check its release notes and settings.
Some of the suggestions below are “AI optional”, as in it can be turned off and opted out of. I don’t consider AI features that are opted into by default really “optional”. Especially if the opt-out process:
- Isn’t well-communicated for screen readers.
- Resets itself or doesn’t work in private browsing.
- Doesn’t disclose which model is being used or how data is collected, processed, stored, etc.
Browsers
Windows, Linux, macOS, Android
Windows, Linux, macOS
Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Browser extensions
- 🔗Ublock Origin
Has a 🔗Huge AI Blocklist for sites that contain AI-generated images and ability to block site elements, like chat buttons. ;) - 🔗PrivacyBadger from the 🔗Electronic Frontier Foundation
- 🔗Decentraleyes
- 🔗NoScript (or browser settings)
Search Engines
- 🔗Mojeek
🔗AI statement - 🔗searx
- 🔗SearXNG
- 🔗swisscows
- 🔗metacrawler*
- 🔗StartPage*
*No GenAI features yet but owned by 🔗System1, “an industry-leading responsive acquisition marketing platform (RAMP) powered by AI & machine learning” 🙄 - 🔗Qwant
GenAI features are account-only at time of writing. - 🔗Ecosia
GenAI features are enabled by default. They can be turned off, but will come back if you delete the browser cookie.
🔗AI statement - 🔗No AI version of DuckDuckGo
GenAI features are enabled by default on the main DDG site. They can be turned off, but will come back if you delete the browser cookie.
🔗AI statement
Sadly a search engine not having generative AI features doesn’t mean it’s safe. Many of them still use Google, Bing, etc. results. I’m not sure what sense it makes for a search company to invest in something that lowers the quality of and trust in search results…but here we are~
Get Google gone as much as possible.
🔗Proton has optional GenAI features, but is free with better privacy and data protection practices than Google.
- 🔗Lumo chatbot (separate app and webpage)
- 🔗Lumo privacy and security model
- 🔗Scribe writing assistant (Proton Mail, can be ran locally)
🔗How to turn it off
Proton also has its own version of 🔗Docs and 🔗LibreOffice is a free, open source office suite that includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).
Play Store alternatives
Misc. links
- 🔗How to Turn Off Apple Intelligence on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac
- 🔗How to remove AI from Win11
- 🔗Win11Debloat Powershell script
- 🔗How to deactivate AI on your Android phone
- 🔗Notepad++ is a free open source code editor and Microsoft Notepad replacement that supports several programming languages.
I wish it was as easy as bopping a computer with a book and yelling, “The power of Consent compels you!”.
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