How to Disable AI Features on Google, Meta, and Other Platforms
With the increasing presence of artificial intelligence on various digital platforms, users are increasingly concerned over privacy, control, and over-dependence on AI for content recommendations, data processing, and ad targeting. Although tech giants like Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), and others have extensively incorporated AI into their existing services, there are still options to limit or disable certain functionalities powered by AI. In this article, I’ll think about the different methods of managing or disabling AI tools and algorithms on these most popular platforms.
1. Disabling AI Features on Google Services
AI is among the technologies used by Google and can be seen in services such as Google Search, YouTube, and Google Assistant. These utilize machine learning to improve the user experience, but the settings can be changed to reduce its impact.
➡ Search Customization
Personalized results and other AI features will be off in Google search if you go to “Data & Personalization” in your Google Account settings. You can also switch off “Web & App Activity” and “Ad Personalization” which limit Google from tailoring the search results and ads according to your behavior.
➡ YouTube recommendations
While YouTube’s AI is the brain behind the recommendations, you are still able to limit its reach by erasing your watch and search history or by pausing both watch and search history. This will cut down on the degree of AI influence in video recommendation.
➡ Google Assistant
If you’d like to cut off voice commands to Google Assistant, the option to disable the Assistant is available in your smartphone settings under the “Google > Google Assistant” section. The other way is to turn off your voice history and activity in the “Data & Personalization” section of your Google Account.
2. Disabling AI on Meta (Facebook, Instagram)
Meta platforms including social media have a wide range of use cases for artificial intelligence such as content recommendations, ad targeting, and news feed algorithms. You can attain a higher level of data and experience autonomy by implementing specific procedures.
➡ Ad Personalization
If you want to reduce the AI ads targeting on Facebook and Instagram, go to the “Settings > Ad Preferences” option. You will thus be able to get more control over what information Meta uses for advertising. Turn off interest-based categories of ads and deny third-party data to influence the ads.
➡ Feed Customization
Don’t you have a choice to prohibit the AI completely from influencing the news feed? You can make a personal choice in the settings. Using the option “Most Recent” on Facebook, you can view all the posts in a time-based manner. The posts are not arranged by the AI algorithm.
➡ Instagram Explore Page
The Explore page of Instagram is based on AI to connect posts with your interests. If you want to change this back, you can wipe your search history and deliberately limit the algorithm’s influence by the posts and accounts that you engage with.
3. Managing AI on Other Platforms (Amazon, Microsoft, etc.)
Other tech giants also implement AI extensively, but similar strategies can help minimize its effect.
1. Amazon
Amazon utilizes AI to give personalized recommendations to customers and interest models for advertising. For de-personalizing your recommendations, you can either remove items from your browsing history by accessing the menu “Accounts & Lists > Your Recommendations” or completely disable the product suggestion feature.
2. Microsoft
AI-based features can be controlled through privacy settings in apps such as Cortana and LinkedIn. In Windows, Cortana can be disabled by going to Settings > Privacy > Speech, inking & typing, LinkedIn gives you the option to disable data-driven recommendations in its privacy settings.
4. Broader Implications and Limitations
Although there is a way to limit AI utilities on these platforms, recognizing the core AI functionality in most services is paramount. In a manner of speaking, AI specification is not an option at all, since the AI systems are used to enhance the functionality of the platforms. In such situations, the control over the data through privacy settings or the option of not personalizing features can provide more control.
Conclusion
The more AI goes into applications, the more people find it impossible to avoid these systems. However, platforms like Google, Meta, Amazon, and others give you the possibility to control and minimize the impact of AI on the experience. By modifying the ads, recommendations, and tracking of activity settings, you can have a greater say over the AI that influences your online life.