What happened
Avoiding AI workshops are packing public libraries across the United States, as ordinary people line up to learn how to turn off the AI features quietly built into their phones and apps. The trend started with Hannah Cyrus, a librarian at the Bangor Public Library in Maine, who noticed a pattern in the questions she was fielding at the reference desk: "How do I turn this stuff off? Why is it trying to write my emails for me?" Cyrus turned those recurring complaints into a class.
Her usual computer classes draw about a dozen people. The first Avoiding AI session pulled in so much interest that she had to cap registration at 30 attendees, open a waitlist, and stream the session on Zoom — about 70 people showed up for each of her first two workshops. After Cyrus published a journal article describing the class, librarians from around the world started emailing her, asking for her slides.
One of them was Charlie Bailey, a librarian in South Philadelphia, who ran his own version in a children's classroom decorated with an alphabet rug. His library's Instagram post about the event pulled in over 2,000 likes and 220 shares — far above the usual few dozen — and he had to add a second session because the first filled up almost immediately.
Why it matters
The demand behind these workshops points to something bigger than a niche library program: a real and growing appetite for opting out of AI, not opting in. For years, the tech industry has framed AI adoption as inevitable and universally wanted. These crowded sessions suggest otherwise — a meaningful slice of the public feels AI tools were forced on them rather than chosen.
### A backlash rooted in default settings
Bailey said he was inspired by "the feeling of people's frustration with AI tools being kind of forced onto them." That frustration tracks with how most consumer AI features actually ship: Apple Intelligence, Gemini, and similar assistants are typically switched on by default inside operating systems, email clients, and search engines, rather than offered as something users deliberately activate. Turning them off usually means digging through several layers of settings menus that most people never open.
### Digital literacy, reframed
Both librarians describe their workshops not as anti-technology events but as digital literacy education — the same mission libraries have applied to smartphones, social media, and internet safety for two decades. The twist is that this time, the literacy skill in demand is subtraction rather than addition: knowing how to disable a feature is now as valuable as knowing how to use one.
How to use it today
You don't need to attend a library workshop to apply the same steps at home. Most major platforms let you disable AI features individually:
- iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and toggle it off.
- Android/Gmail/Google Search: Turn off Gemini integration in the Gemini app settings, and disable AI Overviews or smart replies inside Gmail and Search settings.
- Browser search tricks: Workshop attendees shared tips like appending "&udm=14" to a Google search URL to get a plain, AI-summary-free results page.
- Social and productivity apps: Check settings menus for "smart replies," "AI writing assistant," or "auto-summarize" toggles, which are usually opt-out rather than opt-in.
If your goal isn't to avoid AI altogether but to use it on your own terms — without it being bundled into an OS or app you didn't choose — a lightweight, no-account option like the free AI tools at [mykreatool.com](https://mykreatool.com) lets you try specific AI features only when you actually want them, instead of having them switched on everywhere by default.
Who benefits
The clearest winners are everyday users who want more control over their devices: privacy-conscious professionals, parents managing family accounts, and older adults who find AI prompts confusing or intrusive. Librarians also benefit — Cyrus and Bailey both describe a surge of goodwill and community engagement that outpaces almost anything else they've programmed. Marketers and product teams should take note too: a session that draws 70 attendees to a public library, or 2,000-plus social likes on a single post, is a signal about audience sentiment that's hard to ignore when planning AI-related messaging.
Risks
There are real trade-offs to switching AI features off entirely. Some AI-powered functions — spam filtering, accessibility features, and security scanning — are woven into systems in ways that aren't always obvious, so disabling one toggle can unintentionally affect another. There's also a risk of over-correction: treating all AI features as equally unwanted can mean missing out on tools that genuinely save time, like calendar scheduling or document summarization, when used by choice rather than by default. For businesses, the bigger risk is reputational — the popularity of these workshops shows that unsolicited AI features can generate real customer frustration, not just neutral indifference.
Conclusion
The rise of Avoiding AI workshops shows that AI fatigue is no longer an abstract complaint — it's driving people to public libraries in numbers usually reserved for tax season or resume help. Whether you're a marketer gauging sentiment or an everyday user tired of unwanted AI prompts, the lesson is the same: opt-in, transparent AI features build trust; forced defaults build resistance.
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