Librarians are hosting viral 'Avoiding AI' workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech
At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand. "Everybody's on their phone at my program! " joked Charlie Bailey, a librarian in South Philadelphia.
Key Takeaways
- He's just asked his audience to pull out their phones so that he can walk them through the steps of disabling Apple Intelligence and Gemini.
Bailey stands at the front of a library classroom that's outfitted for children - the focal point is the vibrant rug he's standing on, which reminds us that M is for "moon" and Z is for "zebra.
- "As a librarian, I think it's important to see this as advancing digital literacy and helping people reclaim their autonomy over whether they want to use AI tools," Bailey said.
"It's important, especially when it can be so difficult not to use them, and when the design seems to force adoption.
- "More and more, I was getting questions about, 'How do I turn this [AI] stuff off?
- When Bailey followed Cyrus' lead to host a workshop in Philadelphia, the reception was similarly unprecedented.
The library's Instagram post about the "Avoiding AI" event got over 2,000 likes and , whereas most of the library's posts don't get more than a few dozen likes.
- "You have to go through all the trouble to buy a home in today's world, and two years from now, there could be a data center next to your house," one workshop attendee named Johnny says.
He's just asked his audience to pull out their phones so that he can walk them through the steps of disabling Apple Intelligence and Gemini. Bailey stands at the front of a library classroom that's outfitted for children - the focal point is the vibrant rug he's standing on, which reminds us that M is for "moon" and Z is for "zebra. " But the 20-odd adults in the room aren't here to learn about the alphabet.
They're at a workshop called Avoiding AI, which, in this context does not stand for "apple" and "igloo. " "I was inspired by the feeling of people's frustration with AI tools being kind of forced onto them, and feeling like AI tools we didn't ask for are suddenly everywhere in our lives," Bailey told TechCrunch. Bailey starts the hour-long workshop with an overview of how AI chatbots and other consumer AI tools work, explaining why people might want to use these products, and why they might opt to abstain.
Then, he walks through all of the most popular tech platforms and devices, showing step-by-step instructions on the projector to guide people through turning off specific features. "As a librarian, I think it's important to see this as advancing digital literacy and helping people reclaim their autonomy over whether they want to use AI tools," Bailey said. "It's important, especially when it can be so difficult not to use them, and when the design seems to force adoption.
For more details please read the original article at TechCrunch AI.
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