It’s Official, Users HATE AI Search! 90% Want to Turn it Off

Brett Tabkeon

A staggering 90% of all search engine users that DuckDuckGo surveyed says they do not want AI in search. This was not some lame ass Twitter poll, this was nearly 200,000 DDG users!

Good on ya Gabriel! He asked, we answered, lets go.

“Many people want to opt out of AI features right now, but most tech companies are ignoring them. At DuckDuckGo our approach to AI is to only make AI features that are useful, private, and optional.” -Gabriel Weinberg, founder DuckDuckGo

And then came the piling on from around the web:
Slash Dot comments:

Not because of google AI or their privacy issues but because they’re fucking useless at returning what I’m searching for. Duckduckduck at the very least shows what I’m searching for not what it thinks I should be asking. Now we can turn off AI at the flick of a switch I see no reason to use google again. Just need DuckDuckGo to start an email service.

FindArticles:

Research from the Reuters Institute has found many news consumers still prefer clear links and recognizable brands, and Pew Research Center has repeatedly reported that Americans are more concerned than excited about AI—particularly in information-centric tasks. DuckDuckGo’s results echo that sentiment with hard numbers.

PCMag:

AI in search is hard to avoid these days. Google’s AI Overviews are everywhere (even in your inbox), and Microsoft has incorporated a Copilot chat option on Bing.com. Results are mixed, and hallucinations are still a problem.

WindowsCentral:

“DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that relies largely on Bing for search results. Bing is arguably the most viable alternative to Google, as demonstrated by market share, but it also has AI. Bing gets a lot of hate, but I actually think it’s one of the better Microsoft products these days. Bing yields similar or better results than Google in many cases. “

TechSpot:

“…many users argue that Google search is now providing low-quality search results, with the company increasingly focused on serving AI-generated answers instead of traditional links. “

BarChar:

Google has increasingly been driving thousands of small businesses, and even large news agencies, out of business with its AI overviews. Traditionally, news companies would get clicks from Google, which results in advertising revenue. But with AI overviews, nobody gets traffic, killing many businesses. Google does not even allow users to turn off AI overviews and similar features, so unless people start using alternative browsers like DuckDuckGo or Brave en masse, nobody can stop that either.

Reddit

“A lot of people who use that browser don’t want unnecessary AI nonsense. Look, I’m pro-AI, but I also know where it isn’t needed or wanted. If I want to use AI, I’ll go find it. I don’t need it jammed down my throat like it’s always the best option.”