Librarians are hosting viral ‘Avoiding AI’ workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech - TechCrunch

What the report says

TechCrunch reports that public libraries are seeing unusually strong interest in workshops designed to help patrons understand and disable consumer AI features. The article centers on an “Avoiding AI” session led by Charlie Bailey, a librarian in South Philadelphia, where about 20 adults were guided through settings for tools such as Apple Intelligence and Google’s Gemini. Bailey framed the class as a digital literacy effort for people who feel AI functions are appearing on their devices and platforms without meaningful choice.

The idea spread from Hannah Cyrus, a librarian at Bangor Public Library in Maine, who developed a similar workshop after patrons increasingly asked how to turn off AI-generated writing, summaries and other automated features. TechCrunch reported that Cyrus’ usual computer classes draw roughly a dozen people, but her first two Avoiding AI workshops reached about 70 attendees each when Zoom participation was included, after in-person registration was capped at 30.

Bailey’s Philadelphia workshop drew similar attention. A library Instagram post promoting the event received more than 2,000 likes and 220 shares, far above the library’s typical engagement, and demand led him to schedule another session. Participants discussed practical workarounds, including ways to reduce AI results in search, as well as wider concerns about workplace pressure, environmental impacts and data centers.

The report presents the workshops less as a rejection of all AI than as a reaction to forced or default adoption by major technology companies. Librarians cited useful forms of automation, such as optical character recognition for archival materials, while emphasizing that patrons want more control over when and how AI systems are used in everyday technology.