"Librarians Host Viral 'Avoiding AI' Workshops — A Movement Against Big Tech's AI Push"
"Philadelphia librarian Charlie Bailey teaches people how to disable AI features on their devices. Demand is so high workshops fill up immediately and waitlists grow."
The Rise of 'Avoiding AI': When Librarians Became Digital Resistance Leaders
"Everybody's on their phone at my program!" jokes Charlie Bailey, a librarian in South Philadelphia. 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 outfitted for children — the focal point is the vibrant rug reminding us that M is for "moon" and Z is for "zebra." But the 20-odd adults in the room aren't here to learn the alphabet. They're at a workshop called Avoiding AI.
"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.
Inside the Workshop: How to Opt Out of the AI Era
The hour-long workshop begins with a straightforward overview: how AI chatbots and consumer AI tools work, why people might want to use these products, and why others might choose to abstain. Then, Bailey walks through the most popular tech platforms and devices, projecting step-by-step instructions on screen to guide attendees 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."
The workshop covers disabling Apple Intelligence on iPhones, turning off Google Gemini on Android devices, and adjusting settings across Windows, macOS, and major browsers. It also touches on Meta AI across Facebook and Instagram, and how to minimize AI-generated search results.
Viral Demand: From a Dozen Attendees to Overflow Crowds
Bailey got the idea for Avoiding AI from Hannah Cyrus, a librarian in Bangor, Maine. Cyrus published a journal article about developing her own workshop, and Bailey was one of dozens of librarians from around the world who reached out to her afterward.
"This has never happened before with anything I've worked on," Cyrus told TechCrunch. "Nobody has ever been emailing me like, 'Can you give me your Intro to Computers slides?'"
Typically, Cyrus' classes — such as Intro to Computers — draw about a dozen attendees. But interest in her first Avoiding AI workshop was so overwhelming that she had to cap registration at 30, open a waitlist, and add a Zoom livestream. Including the stream, roughly 70 people attended each of Cyrus' first two workshops.
When Bailey launched his workshop in Philadelphia, the reception was similarly unprecedented. The library's Instagram post about the "Avoiding AI" event garnered over 2,000 likes and 220 shares — compared to the library's typical posts, which rarely exceed a few dozen likes. He scheduled a second session because the first filled up immediately.
Who Attends — And What Drives Them?
The attendees represent a cross-section of society frustrated with tech companies' relentless AI push. "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," shared Johnny, a workshop attendee.
"I keep getting AI shoved down my throat at work, and every time I see it, I think about the environment," added Gabrielle, another attendee. But she's not dismissing AI entirely: "I'm not against AI in terms of medical breakthroughs."
This nuance is critical. The Avoiding AI movement isn't Luddism — it's about agency. Cyrus herself noted how useful optical character recognition is for scanning old documents at the library. The core demand is not rejection of technology, but the right to choose when and how to use it.
During the workshop, a sense of camaraderie builds among strangers. When Bailey invites attendees to share tips, one person explains that appending "&udm=14" to a Google Search query hides AI-generated results. Bailey writes the string on a whiteboard next to the teen Wi-Fi password.
"The Straw That Breaks the Camel's Back"
"I think the forced adoption of AI on people's devices might be the straw that's breaking the camel's back in some ways," Cyrus said. "The awareness has been growing for a long time that these products and these companies that make them have an outsized influence over us, and that we're not really using these products in the way that we would like to."
The timing explains the phenomenon. For years, users have watched their digital environments become increasingly surveilled, algorithmically curated, and monetized. AI features — once an optional upgrade — are now deeply embedded in operating systems, browsers, photo galleries, messaging apps, and search engines, often with no clear off-switch. Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI — each one arrives as a default, and turning them off requires navigating labyrinthine settings menus.
"As an information professional, it feels good to see people skeptical of AI," Bailey said. "It felt really good to see how many people share this feeling."
Why Libraries? Trusted Institutions in a Digital Age
Libraries have always been trusted community institutions — spaces where people go to understand information, whether in books or online. In the age of AI, librarians are once again on the front lines, helping the public navigate a confusing new technological landscape.
At the Bangor Public Library, Cyrus' patrons turn to her with everything technology-related. "More and more, I was getting questions about, 'How do I turn this [AI] stuff off? Why is it trying to write my emails for me? Why is it trying to summarize my one-sentence email that I can easily read?'" she recalled.
This grassroots movement carries important lessons for Georgia and other countries where digital literacy is still maturing. As AI becomes embedded in everyday tools — from search engines to social media to productivity suites — the need for critical AI literacy grows. Understanding how these systems work, what data they collect, and how to control them is becoming a fundamental 21st-century skill, on par with traditional reading and writing.
The Bigger Picture: Critical AI Literacy as a Core Skill
The Avoiding AI phenomenon is far more than a quirky trend — it signals a shift in public consciousness. People are waking up to the reality that AI is not just a tool they can choose to use or ignore; it is being woven into the fabric of digital life whether they want it or not. The librarians' workshops fill a crucial gap between industry hype and genuine user needs.
"I'm not against AI," Cyrus clarified. "I just want people to have the information they need to make their own choices." This is the essence of what these librarians are building: not anti-technology sentiment, but informed, empowered decision-making. They teach not just how to turn AI off, but how to understand it, evaluate it critically, and decide consciously whether — and when — to engage with it.
In a world where every device, app, and service seems determined to add AI features, the quiet resistance of librarians offering "how to opt out" workshops may prove to be one of the most important digital literacy movements of our time. After all, real digital freedom isn't just about access — it's about the power to say no.