How to Avoid Generative AI In Your Search Browser
I've seen countless people complain about generative AI in their search results. Whether it's google images, a sketchy website using CHATGPT, or a fake artist trying to scam you out of money, generative AI is unfortunately everywhere. Before I reveal my methods of banishing AI to the shadow realm, let's go over the basics.
Not everyone is familiar with tech terminology, or how AI actually functions.
What's the difference between AI and generative AI?
AI has been used for decades in programming, technology, and social media. AI used to be reserved algorithms and code, but now it's being used to generate content (texts, websites, images etc.) That's where the term generative AI comes from.
Why is generative AI bad?
Generative AI collects available data, stores it, and uses all of it to form sentences, a picture, or whatever else you want it to make. The problem is, this user data is taken without consent to train AI models.
A machine heavily references human input, using any combination of it to come out with the final product. AI can and does steal creatives work. It can't come up with anything original on its own.
Businesses, scammers, and reposters use AI-created content to profit off of internet content with NO EFFORT. Feeds hosting AI drive regular people away from seeing and engaging with something a person spent time making. That means that any person creating content on the internet is now losing money due to the AI's widespread acceptance.
The last issue I want to quickly touch on is that AI isn't always right. It does not understand whether the information that it's scalping is even factual. Generative AI interprets prompt keywords, not nuance or conversation. Even if an AI references a source, it may spit out irrelevant info or only highlight a piece of original text, leaving out a bigger picture.
How to Avoid AI:
Method 1: "Enter before:2021" after your search query. This is especially helpful in Google Images.
Method 2: Use "-ai" after you search. This only works for content tagged as AI, or that mentions it's AI generated.
Method 3: Avoid sketchy looking websites filled with lots of ads, buggy articles, and a choppy writing flow. Only read articles, journals, and publications from established websites that are known to hire human writers.
Those are my tried-and-true methods! In my experience, the before: command is the most reliable. I may make a post like this for AI content on social media, including Tumblr, once I figure out how to avoid seeing it on platforms.












