Disabling unwanted AI intrusion on personal devices

Question

Level 1

4 points

Disabling unwanted AI intrusion on personal devices

Dear Techies and AI devs.....

I am getting really sick of AI's intrusion into my privacy. AI is just appearing on my mobile, computers etc without asking.... I don't want some machine analysing who I am, my conversations public or private, answering emails or writing for me.... I can't stand machines.... I am quite capable of looking after myself, writing my own word docs, answering any queries etc etc.... please make AI a sign up for ONLY.... and don't just download it willy nilly on every device possible. It is really creepy and feels like having a 'stalker' in your realm.... and it making me want to throw all tech in the bin.

FYI I am an older grumpy person who is educated and does not need something or someone else making decisions for me. 'I can do it myself!' ....

O'wise you all have a great day and keep AI to yourselves. I am sure you can all use it!

[Re-Titled By Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Feb 4, 2025 12:29 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Community+ 2025

Level 10

299,528 points

Feb 4, 2025 06:16 AM in response to Priv-Joy

Priv-Joy wrote:

Thank you. I have turned it off now. :) My problem is that there appears to be no-one we can complain to or send comment to.... not easy to find... so I thought I'd put it here as a discussion to see if others feel the same way.

It seems that no matter what I do, an AI is popping up and making suggestions, wanting to 'help' etc etc and the ones I have talked to have not been amazing... but rather dumb.... eg: my friend and I were wanting to find the camel farm near where we live in regional Oz, the AI wanted to send us to Texas USA as it admitted it couldn't find one near where we live :) .... good for a laugh but really a ridiculous waste of time.

Anyway, it's here now and we will learn to live with it, but it is extremely invasive, and for me, very very creepy....

Apple invites submission of constructive feedback, comments and feature request via its Product Feedback portal:

Product Feedback - Apple

While you are perhaps unlikely to receive a reply, we are assured that every submission is both logged and forwarded to the appropriate department(s).

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Answer 2

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

53,378 points

Feb 4, 2025 05:11 PM in response to Priv-Joy

Priv-Joy wrote:

It seems that no matter what I do, an AI is popping up and making suggestions, wanting to 'help' etc etc and the ones I have talked to have not been amazing... but rather dumb.... eg: my friend and I were wanting to find the camel farm near where we live in regional Oz, the AI wanted to send us to Texas USA as it admitted it couldn't find one near where we live :)

What you are referring to is Machine Learning that has always been on your phone. That has nothing to do with the Apple Intelligence feature recently launched and you have turned off. Other examples of Machine Learning that you may also use is:

Touch ID
Face ID
Photo Memories
Automatic Birthday Reminders
Face detection in photos
Object detection in photos
Siri Suggestions
Map Suggestions
Keyboard Suggestions

As you can see it is quite a list and there are actually more examples. None of those are included with Apple Intelligence and you also do not have to use them. None of them are going to be 100% accurate either, that is a given. For example, Photos may incorrectly identify a face or object at times, it may also get a map suggestion wrong or suggest a word you do not want to use when typing, but that is life and you simply do not have to use the suggestion. Machine Learning increases its accuracy by you telling it what it gets right and what it gets wrong. The keyword there is "Learning".

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Answer 3

Priv-Joy Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2025 03:19 AM in response to muguy

Thank you. I have turned it off now. :) My problem is that there appears to be no-one we can complain to or send comment to.... not easy to find... so I thought I'd put it here as a discussion to see if others feel the same way.

It seems that no matter what I do, an AI is popping up and making suggestions, wanting to 'help' etc etc and the ones I have talked to have not been amazing... but rather dumb.... eg: my friend and I were wanting to find the camel farm near where we live in regional Oz, the AI wanted to send us to Texas USA as it admitted it couldn't find one near where we live :) .... good for a laugh but really a ridiculous waste of time.

Anyway, it's here now and we will learn to live with it, but it is extremely invasive, and for me, very very creepy....

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Answer 4

muguy

Level 10

89,984 points

Feb 4, 2025 01:07 AM in response to Priv-Joy

Not sure who you’re addressing but this is a user forum. Machine learning has been part of devices for some time, that’s unlikely to stop. As for Apple Intelligence, you can turn it off in settings if you wish.

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Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

220,386 points

Feb 4, 2025 05:21 PM in response to Priv-Joy

As an older grumpy person myself, I recommend you read the Terms of Use for these forums.

Your post qualifies as a "rant", seeing as how it does not contain a technical question and only serves to give voice to your displeasure.

That document will explain why your post is likely to be deleted by the moderators in short order.

You are not communicating with Apple by posting here. This is a user forum. Apple does not participate.

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

Level 10

121,238 points

Feb 4, 2025 04:33 PM in response to Priv-Joy

Priv-Joy wrote:

Barney-15E - thank you for your response, it is however completely wrong.

So here we see the problem. Asking if anyone 'feels' similar to myself is NOT conducting a poll.

Yes, it is. It also has nothing to do with technical support issues. If you have a weird problem and you ask, “for those few that have this same problem, what third-party software do you have installed,” that is not a poll and also has tech support troubleshooting.

You are merely asking for opinions on Apple’s design/policy decisions.

Rest, Tl;dr

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Answer 7

Priv-Joy Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2025 02:38 PM in response to Barney-15E

Barney-15E - thank you for your response, it is however completely wrong.

So here we see the problem. Asking if anyone 'feels' similar to myself is NOT conducting a poll.

So all I can assume is that this conversation is with AI (Barney-15E), not a human as a human would have understood that the 'support' I was seeking, was for an emotional response discussing the issue I have to AI. Only another human being can provide that type of support so sending my posts automatically to AI to answer does not work. I understand now that the word 'support' does not include 'emotional support' only 'tech support' - such are the limitations of interpretation.

As AI becomes more intrusive in our lives, there is for me as a human a creeping feeling of being stalked.... or maybe worse, 'not listened to'. I do understand that AI does not have the nuances of 'being human' and a human mind available to it.... but for me the problem is that "AI to human" is a 'less than' satisfactory way to conduct a conversation.

I know that your techs are trying the best they can to make AI as 'human' as possible but to make a machine a 'less than' version of something else is not only to chase after an illusion but also does not do the AI any respect.

I am happy to interact with a machine if I know it is a machine and I will accordingly use the appropriate language for a 'human to AI' interaction.... it is the artificial human concept that I find repulsive to my core.

AI is AI.... it is not 'human' ... so please stop with the pretence and work out how to make AI less creepy. If your techs were able to actually take the time to understand what it is I am saying, then maybe a way forward that is successful can be found.

Anyway this is a dead end discussion so why do I bother.... just let the cascade of problems I foresee ahead in the AI race happen.

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Answer 8

Priv-Joy Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2025 06:00 PM in response to Barney-15E

I actually acknowledged that this is tech support only.... however the ability for AI and humans to be able to converse intelligently and wisely is an important issue and relies on the techs inputting the nuances of everyday speech... so it is also a technical issue. If the AI and the person cannot conduct a reasonable discussion with understanding the various issues, then AI fails.

My initial gripe was a technical issue if we go back.... I would like Apple to ask me if I want to download Apple AI ... not just download it as an update. A simple statement saying that Apple AI is available for your computer, would you like to download it now .... is not much to ask....

Oh and oops, that is not a poll by the way!

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