If you don\u2019t go searching for AI services, they\u2019ll find you all the same. Every major tech company feels a moral obligation not just to develop an AI assistant, integrated chatbot, or autonomous agent, but to bake it into their existing mainstream products and forcibly activate it for tens of millions of users. Here are just a few examples from the last six months:<\/p>\n
On the flip side, geeks have rushed to build their own \u201cpersonal Jarvises<\/a>\u201d by renting VPS instances or hoarding Mac minis to run the OpenClaw AI agent. Unfortunately, OpenClaw\u2019s security issues<\/a> with default settings turned out to be so massive that it\u2019s already been dubbed the biggest cybersecurity threat of 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond the sheer annoyance of having something shoved down your throat, this AI epidemic brings some very real practical risks and headaches. AI assistants hoover up every bit of data they can get their hands on, parsing the context of the websites you visit, analyzing your saved documents, reading through your chats, and so on. This gives AI companies an unprecedentedly intimate look into every<\/em> user\u2019s life.<\/p>\n A leak of this data during a cyberattack \u2014 whether from the AI provider\u2019s servers or from the cache on your own machine \u2014 could be catastrophic. These assistants can see and cache everything you can, including data usually tucked behind multiple layers of security: banking info, medical diagnoses, private messages, and other sensitive intel. We took a deep dive into how this plays out when we broke down the issues with the AI-powered Copilot+ Recall system<\/a>, which Microsoft also planned to force-feed to everyone. On top of that, AI can be a total resource hog, eating up RAM, GPU cycles, and storage, which often leads to a noticeable hit to system performance.<\/p>\n For those who want to sit out the AI storm and avoid these half-baked, rushed-to-market neural network assistants, we\u2019ve put together a quick guide on how to kill the AI in popular apps and services.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s AI assistant features in Mail and Docs are lumped together under the umbrella of \u201csmart features\u201d. In addition to the large language model, this includes various minor conveniences, like automatically adding meetings to your calendar when you receive an invite in Gmail. Unfortunately, it\u2019s an all-or-nothing deal: you have to disable all of the \u201csmart features\u201d to get rid of the AI.<\/p>\n To do this, open Gmail, click the Settings (gear) icon, and then select See all settings<\/strong>. On the General<\/strong> tab, scroll down to Google Workspace smart features<\/strong>. Click Manage Workspace smart feature settings<\/strong> and toggle off two options: Smart features in Google Workspace<\/strong> and Smart features in other Google products<\/strong>. We also recommend unchecking the box next to Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet<\/strong> on the same general settings tab. You\u2019ll need to restart your Google apps afterward (which usually happens automatically).<\/p>\n You can kill off AI Overviews in search results on both desktops and smartphones (including iPhones), and the fix is the same across the board. The simplest way to bypass the AI overview on a case-by-case basis is to append -ai<\/strong> to your search query \u2014 for example, how to make pizza -ai<\/strong>. Unfortunately, this method occasionally glitches, causing Google to abruptly claim it found absolutely nothing for your request.<\/p>\n If that happens, you can achieve the same result by switching the search results page to Web mode. To do this, select the Web<\/strong> filter immediately below the search bar \u2014 you\u2019ll often find it tucked away under the More<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n A more radical solution is to jump ship to a different search engine entirely. For instance, DuckDuckGo not only tracks users less and shows little ads, but it also offers a dedicated AI-free search \u2014 just bookmark the search page at noai.duckduckgo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chrome currently has two types of AI features baked in. The first communicates with Google\u2019s servers and handles things like the smart assistant, an autonomous browsing<\/a> AI agent, and smart search. The second handles locally more utility-based tasks, such as identifying phishing pages or grouping browser tabs. The first group of settings is labeled AI mode<\/strong>, while the second contains the term Gemini Nano<\/strong>.<\/p>\n To disable them, type chrome:\/\/flags<\/strong> into the address bar and hit Enter<\/strong>. You\u2019ll see a list of system flags and a search bar; type \u201cAI<\/strong>\u201d into that search bar. This will filter the massive list down to about a dozen AI features (and a few other settings where those letters just happen to appear in a longer word). The second search term you\u2019ll need in this window is \u201cGemini<\/strong>\u201c.<\/p>\n After reviewing the options, you can disable the unwanted AI features \u2014 or just turn them all off \u2014 but the bare minimum should include:<\/p>\n Set all of these to Disabled<\/strong>.<\/p>\n While Firefox doesn\u2019t have its own built-in chatbots and hasn\u2019t (yet) tried to force upon users agent-based features, the browser does come equipped with smart-tab grouping, a sidebar for chatbots, and a few other perks. Generally, AI in Firefox is much less \u201cin your face\u201d than in Chrome or Edge. But if you still want to pull the plug, you\u2019ve two ways to do it.<\/p>\n The first method is available in recent Firefox releases \u2014 starting with version 148, a dedicated AI Controls<\/strong> section appeared in the browser settings, though the controls are currently a bit sparse. You can use a single toggle to completely Block AI enhancements<\/strong>, shutting down AI features entirely. You can also specify whether you want to use On-device AI<\/strong> by downloading small local models (currently just for translations) and configure AI chatbot providers in sidebar<\/strong>, choosing between Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral.<\/p>\n The second path \u2014 for older versions of Firefox \u2014 requires a trip into the hidden system settings. Type about:config<\/strong> into the address bar, hit Enter<\/strong>, and click the button to confirm that you accept the risk of poking around under the hood.<\/p>\n A massive list of settings will appear along with a search bar. Type \u201cML\u201d to filter for settings related to machine learning.<\/p>\n To disable AI in Firefox, toggle the browser.ml.enabled<\/strong> setting to false<\/strong>. This should disable all AI features across the board, but community forums suggest this isn\u2019t always enough to do the trick. For a scorched-earth approach, set the following parameters to false<\/strong> (or selectively keep only what you need):<\/p>\n This will kill off chatbot integrations, AI-generated link descriptions, assistants and extensions, local translation of websites, tab grouping, and other AI-driven features.<\/p>\n Microsoft has managed to bake AI into almost every single one of its products, and turning it off is often no easy task \u2014 especially since the AI sometimes has a habit of resurrecting itself without your involvement.<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s browser is packed with AI features, ranging from Copilot to automated search. To shut them down, follow the same logic as with Chrome: type edge:\/\/flags<\/strong> into the Edge address bar, hit Enter<\/strong>, then type \u201cAI<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cCopilot<\/strong>\u201d into the search box. From there, you can toggle off the unwanted AI features, such as:<\/p>\n Another way to ditch Copilot is to enter edge:\/\/settings\/appearance\/copilotAndSidebar<\/strong> into the address bar. Here, you can customize the look of the Copilot sidebar and tweak personalization options for results and notifications. Don\u2019t forget to peek into the Copilot<\/strong> section under App-specific settings<\/strong> \u2014 you\u2019ll find some additional controls tucked away there.<\/p>\n Microsoft Copilot comes in two flavors: as a component of Windows (Microsoft Copilot), and as part of the Office suite (Microsoft 365 Copilot). Their functions are similar, but you\u2019ll have to disable one or both depending on exactly what the Redmond engineers decided to shove onto your machine.<\/p>\n The simplest thing you can do is just uninstall the app entirely. Right-click the Copilot<\/strong> entry in the Start<\/strong> menu and select Uninstall<\/strong>. If that option isn\u2019t there, head over to your installed apps list (Start \u2192 Settings \u2192 Apps<\/strong>) and uninstall Copilot from there.<\/p>\n In certain builds of Windows 11, Copilot is baked directly into the OS, so a simple uninstall might not work. In that case, you can toggle it off via the settings: Start \u2192 Settings \u2192 Personalization \u2192 Taskbar<\/strong> \u2192 turn off Copilot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If you ever have a change of heart, you can always reinstall Copilot from the Microsoft Store.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that many users have complained<\/a> about Copilot automatically reinstalling itself, so you might want to do a weekly check for a couple of months to make sure it hasn\u2019t staged a comeback. For those who are comfortable tinkering with the System Registry (and understand the consequences), you can follow this detailed guide<\/a> to prevent Copilot\u2019s silent resurrection by disabling the SilentInstalledAppsEnabled<\/strong> flag and adding\/enabling the TurnOffWindowsCopilot<\/strong> parameter.<\/p>\n The Microsoft Recall feature, first introduced in 2024, works by constantly taking screenshots of your computer screen and having a neural network analyze them. All that extracted information is dumped into a database, which you can then search using an AI assistant. We\u2019ve previously written in detail about the massive security risks Microsoft Recall poses<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under pressure from cybersecurity experts, Microsoft was forced to push the launch of this feature from 2024 to 2025, significantly beefing up the protection of the stored data. However, the core of Recall remains the same: your computer still remembers your every move by constantly snapping screenshots and OCR-ing the content. And while the feature is no longer enabled by default, it\u2019s absolutely worth checking to make sure it hasn\u2019t been activated on your machine.<\/p>\n To check, head to the settings: Start \u2192 Settings \u2192 Privacy & Security \u2192<\/strong> Recall & snapshots<\/strong>. Ensure the Save snapshots<\/strong> toggle is turned off, and click Delete snapshots<\/strong> to wipe any previously collected data, just in case.<\/p>\n You can also check out our detailed guide on how to disable and completely remove Microsoft Recall<\/a>.<\/p>\n AI has seeped into every corner of Windows, even into File Explorer and Notepad. You might even trigger AI features just by accidentally highlighting text in an app \u2014 a feature Microsoft calls \u201cAI Actions\u201d. To shut this down, head to Start \u2192 Settings \u2192 Privacy & Security \u2192 Click to Do<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Notepad has received its own special Copilot treatment, so you\u2019ll need to disable AI there separately. Open the Notepad settings, find the AI features section, and toggle Copilot off.<\/p>\n Finally, Microsoft has even managed to bake Copilot into Paint<\/strong>. Unfortunately, as of right now, there is no official way to disable the AI features within the Paint app itself.<\/p>\n In several regions, WhatsApp users have started seeing typical AI additions like suggested replies, AI message summaries, and a brand-new Chat with Meta AI<\/strong> button. While Meta claims the first two features process data locally on your device and don\u2019t ship your chats off to their servers, verifying that is no small feat. Luckily, turning them off is straightforward.<\/p>\n To disable Suggested Replies, go to Settings \u2192 Chats \u2192 Suggestions & smart replies<\/strong> and toggle off Suggested replies<\/strong>. You can also kill off AI Sticker suggestions<\/strong> in that same menu. As for the AI message summaries, those are managed in a different location: Settings \u2192 Notifications \u2192 AI message summaries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Given the sheer variety of manufacturers and Android flavors, there\u2019s no one-size-fits-all instruction manual for every single phone. Today, we\u2019ll focus on killing off Google\u2019s AI services \u2014 but if you\u2019re using a device from Samsung, Xiaomi, or others, don\u2019t forget to check your specific manufacturer\u2019s AI settings. Just a heads-up: fully scrubbing every trace of AI might be a tall order \u2014 if it\u2019s even possible at all.<\/p>\n In Google Messages, the AI features are tucked away in the settings: tap your account<\/strong> picture, select Messages settings<\/strong>, then Gemini in Messages<\/strong>, and toggle the assistant off.<\/p>\n Broadly speaking, the Gemini chatbot is a standalone app that you can uninstall by heading to your phone\u2019s settings and selecting Apps<\/strong>. However, given Google\u2019s master plan to replace the long-standing Google Assistant with Gemini, uninstalling it might become difficult \u2014 or even impossible \u2014 down the road.<\/p>\n If you can\u2019t completely uninstall Gemini, head into the app to kill its features manually. Tap your profile icon, select Gemini Apps activity<\/strong>, and then choose Turn off<\/strong> or Turn off and delete activity<\/strong>. Next, tap the profile icon again and go to the Connected Apps<\/strong> setting (it may be hiding under the Personal Intelligence<\/strong> setting). From here, you should disable all the apps where you don\u2019t want Gemini poking its nose in.<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s platform-level AI features, collectively known as Apple Intelligence, are refreshingly straightforward to disable. In your settings \u2014 on desktops, smartphones, and tablets alike \u2014 simply look for the section labeled Apple Intelligence & Siri<\/strong>. By the way, depending on your region and the language you\u2019ve selected for your OS and Siri, Apple Intelligence might not even be available to you yet.<\/p>\n Other posts to help you tune the AI tools on your devices:<\/p>\n Tired of hallucinations in AI overviews, and have no clue as to why or how Copilot suddenly appeared on your PC? Here’s a guide to switching off those intrusive AI features in popular services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2722,"featured_media":55385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1788,9],"tags":[1140,105,14,960,4414,16,4704,4583,2745,21,4564,22,1250,26,4642,1946,3938,38,135,4702,43,4590,97,321,131,546],"class_list":{"0":"post-55383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-privacy","8":"category-tips","9":"tag-ai","10":"tag-android","11":"tag-apple","12":"tag-artificial-intelligence","13":"tag-chatgpt","14":"tag-chrome","15":"tag-claude","16":"tag-copilot","17":"tag-edge","18":"tag-firefox","19":"tag-gemini","20":"tag-google","21":"tag-ios","22":"tag-iphone","23":"tag-llm","24":"tag-macos","25":"tag-messaging-apps","26":"tag-microsoft","27":"tag-mozilla","28":"tag-openclaw","29":"tag-privacy","30":"tag-recall","31":"tag-security-2","32":"tag-technology","33":"tag-tips","34":"tag-whatsapp"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/55383\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/30253\/"},{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/25330\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/30125\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/31927\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/30527\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/41379\/"},{"hreflang":"tr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.tr\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/14366\/"},{"hreflang":"fr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.fr\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/23727\/"},{"hreflang":"de","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.de\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/33282\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/30341\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/36009\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/how-to-switch-off-ai\/35667\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/tag\/ai\/","name":"AI"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2722"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55383"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55389,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55383\/revisions\/55389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to disable AI in Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Workspace<\/h2>\n
How to disable AI Overviews in Google Search<\/h2>\n
How to disable AI features in Chrome<\/h2>\n
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How to disable AI features in Firefox<\/h2>\n
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How to disable AI features in Microsoft apps<\/h2>\n
How to disable AI features in Edge<\/h3>\n
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How to disable Microsoft Copilot<\/h3>\n
How to disable Microsoft Recall<\/h3>\n
How to disable AI in Notepad and Windows context actions<\/h3>\n
How to disable AI in WhatsApp<\/h2>\n
How to disable AI on Android<\/h2>\n
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How to disable AI in macOS and iOS<\/h2>\n
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