How to disable AI responses in Google Searches?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges and potential solutions for disabling the AI response feature in Google searches. Participants explore various methods, tools, and opinions regarding the implications of AI-generated summaries on search behavior and information retrieval.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express frustration with the AI Search feature in Google, describing it as obstructive and seeking ways to disable it.
  • One participant suggests that Google's AI summaries are a strategy to retain users on their page, thereby increasing ad revenue, rather than directing traffic to other sites.
  • Another participant claims that there is no way to turn off Google AI Overviews.
  • Some participants propose the possibility of using plugins or alternative browsers to bypass AI features, mentioning specific tools and websites that do not include AI summaries.
  • A participant notes that scrolling past the AI overview is an option, while also criticizing the accuracy of the AI-generated content.
  • There are mentions of differences in AI responses between regular Google searches and Google Gemini, suggesting varying methodologies in how answers are generated.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the intelligence of AI, drawing parallels to human intelligence and questioning the implications of such arguments.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on how to disable AI responses in Google searches, with multiple competing views and suggestions presented. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the effectiveness of proposed solutions.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight limitations in the accuracy of AI-generated information and the potential impact on user experience, but these points remain contested and not fully explored.

berkeman
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This is not specific to PF, but came up in a PF thread:
berkeman said:
Yeah, I need to figure out if there's a way to turn off the "AI Search" feature in Google searches. That is really obnoxious. Off with a mission now...

I'm doing some searches, but so far Google is leading me in circles...

Any tips? Thanks.
 
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Did you ask ChatGPT how to eviscerate its Google cousin?
 
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It used to be that Google would provide search results, we’d go the various sites that came up in the results, we’d spend some time at those sites generating ad revenue for them… google would make money only from the related ads it placed on the search results page, and we aren’t staying long on that page. But when it provides an AI summary of the search results we’re more likely to stay on the Google page - it already has much of what we’d find by following the search result links.

So the AI summaries are Google’s way of capturing ad revenue that would otherwise be lost to click-throughs. Expecting Google to disable them is sort of like expecting a business to refer customers to their competitors.
 
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Maybe there's a plugin or browser that can do it.
 
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berkeman said:
This is not specific to PF, but came up in a PF thread:


I'm doing some searches, but so far Google is leading me in circles...

Any tips? Thanks.
There's no obligation to read or click on the AI overview.
 
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I see many arguments denying that AI is actually intelligent. It seems to me that if these arguments are accepted then one would also conclude that 99% of the human race is not intelligent. It appears that this is not seen as a problem.
 
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  • #10
Hornbein said:
I see many arguments denying that AI is actually intelligent. It seems to me that if these arguments are accepted then one would also conclude that 99% of the human race is not intelligent. It appears that this is not seen as a problem.
No one is intelligent all the time. It takes way too much time and caffeine to get my brain to turn on in the morning.
 
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As PeroK said, just scroll on by. The AI overview is Google stealing information from other websites and not giving them traffic or even credit. And, it's often wrong to boot.
 
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  • #14
harborsparrow said:
And, it's often wrong to boot.
So turning it off with make the internet a completely accurate source of information. 🫤
 
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  • #15
Algr said:
So turning it off with make the internet a completely accurate source of information. 🫤
...at least one very confidently presented layman opinion will be gone.

Ps.: by now, there are a growing number of browser extensions ready for the task. Example
 
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  • #16
@berkeman you should be aware that the AI generated answers under regular Google search might be different if you pose the same question using Google Gemini. I don't know enough to know why there is a difference, but maybe under search, the AI is giving a summary based on the various sites through the query process, whereas in Google Gemini, the code assumes that the user wants self-contained answer.
 
  • #17
elias001 said:
@berkeman you should be aware that the AI generated answers under regular Google search might be different if you pose the same question using Google Gemini. I don't know enough to know why there is a difference, but maybe under search, the AI is giving a summary based on the various sites through the query process, whereas in Google Gemini, the code assumes that the user wants self-contained answer.
Gemini is just one layer that AI Overviews utilize.
 
  • #18
One more reason to use DuckDuckGo instead of Google, imo.
 

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