Artificial intelligence has become the defining force in consumer technology, and smartphones are now among the most AI-heavy devices most people own. From virtual assistants and camera processing to search results and keyboard suggestions, AI is woven into nearly every part of the mobile experience. For users who view that trend with concern, the idea of owning a phone that constantly uses AI can be unsettling. The good news is that you can take meaningful steps to reduce your exposure.

This guide breaks down ten practical strategies for steering clear of AI on your new mobile phone. Some require no more than a visit to your settings, while others demand a bit more technical effort. All of them are designed to help you keep control over your privacy, your data, and the way your phone behaves.

Key Facts at a Glance

• AI assistants can be disabled or replaced with more basic alternatives on both Android and iOS.
• Many phones allow you to turn off AI-driven photo enhancements or switch to RAW capture.
• Privacy controls within apps such as Google Photos and Gmail can reduce AI’s role.
• Advanced users can uninstall system AI apps or install a custom operating system to avoid AI entirely.

Turn Off Any AI Assistant Functionality

The most obvious place where AI shows up on a smartphone is the virtual assistant. Google has made it clear that Gemini is its future, which means Google Assistant is slowly being phased out. If you do not want to interact with an AI-generated assistant every time you use voice commands, you can often switch back to a traditional assistant or disable the assistant entirely.

On most Android phones, open the Settings app and go to the Apps section. Look for the Assistant option and choose your preferred digital assistant. If you are using a phone from Samsung or Xiaomi, you may need to open the Google app instead. Tap your profile icon, enter Settings, and find Google Assistant. This will let you select a non-AI variant if one is available.

On an iPhone, Siri is powered by Apple Intelligence in recent versions of iOS. To disable the AI side of Siri, go to Settings, then Apple Intelligence & Siri, and turn off Apple Intelligence. If you want to keep Siri for basic tasks but disable AI-driven responses, review the options under Siri Requests and switch off anything that feels too intrusive.

Mitigate Any AI Camera Enhancements

Camera performance is a major battleground for smartphone manufacturers, and many use AI to process photos after you press the shutter button. This can produce bright, sharp images in many cases, but the results sometimes look overly processed. The good news is that several phones give you a way to reduce or remove these AI enhancements.

Honor smartphones include an AI button in the Camera app. Tap it from the preview screen to disable AI-powered image enhancements. Samsung offers an Intelligent optimization setting inside the Camera app; switching it to Minimum will prevent the phone from over-processing your photos. On iPhones, you can enable Prioritize Faster Shooting, which gives the camera less time to apply AI post-processing. You can also change your photo format from JPEG to RAW, which bypasses almost all digital processing, including AI-based effects.

RAW capture may produce larger files, but it gives photographers far more control and keeps the phone’s AI out of the creative process. If you are someone who values authentic images, this is a simple and effective option.

Don’t Use the AI Features of Your Photos App

The photos app on your phone is another place where AI has become deeply embedded. Google Photos, for instance, integrates with Gemini to offer features like natural-language photo searches, AI-generated memory recaps, and suggestions for album titles. These tools may be convenient, but they also rely on AI and cloud-based analysis of your images.

To disable Gemini features in Google Photos, open the app, tap your profile picture in the top-right corner, go to Photos settings, then Preferences, and choose Gemini features in Photos. From there, you can turn off the Use Gemini in Photos option entirely. This does not delete your photos, but it stops AI from scanning them for suggestions and summaries.

On an iPhone, Apple does not offer a dedicated toggle for AI features within the Photos app. The only reliable way to prevent Apple Intelligence from touching your images is to disable Apple Intelligence globally in Settings. Keep in mind that some tools, such as Clean Up, may have already downloaded their AI models to your device and will not disappear even after you turn off Apple Intelligence.

Switch Off Pixel’s AI-Enabled Call Assist Tech

Google Pixel phones are widely praised for their intelligent software, but a lot of that intelligence depends on AI. Features like Hold for Me, Direct a Call, Call Screen, and Take a Message are designed to make phone calls easier, but not everyone wants a phone that listens and responds with AI during calls.

If you have a Pixel phone, open the Phone app, tap the hamburger menu in the top-left corner, and go to Settings. The first section you will see is Call Assist. From here, you can turn off any or all of the AI-powered call features. Depending on your region and carrier, some of these options may not appear, but the ones that do can be disabled individually.

Turning off these tools means you will handle calls in the traditional way, but it also keeps your conversations more private and less dependent on AI processing.

Don’t Rely on AI-Powered Search

Search engines have also changed dramatically because of AI. When you search for something on Google, you may see an AI overview before any normal results. This can be helpful sometimes, but it also pushes AI into a basic task that used to be simple. On desktop, disabling AI Overviews is reasonably easy, but on mobile it requires a workaround.

One method is to visit tenbluelinks.org from Chrome. This site acts as a middleman that forces Google to display traditional search results without AI Overviews. After visiting the site, open Chrome’s menu and select Search engine. You should see tenbluelinks.org listed as Google Web under Recently Visited. Make it your default search engine, and searches from the URL bar will no longer include AI summaries.

Also consider turning off Circle to Search on Android phones. This feature uses AI to identify objects on your screen and launch searches. The exact steps vary by manufacturer, but you can usually find the option under Settings, then Display, Navigation, or Gestures. Disabling it removes yet another AI entry point from your daily phone use.

Disable Any Smart AI Features on Your Mail Apps

Email is another area where AI has crept in. Gmail, which has around 1.8 billion users, includes several features that rely on Google’s AI. Smart Compose suggests complete sentences while you type, and Smart Reply offers one-tap responses. These tools can speed up communication, but they also mean your writing patterns are being analyzed by AI.

To turn them off, open Gmail, tap the menu button in the top-left corner, and scroll to Settings. Select Google Workspace smart features and turn off both Smart features in Google Workspace and Smart features in other Google products. Then go back and disable Smart Compose and Smart Reply. This restores a more traditional, manual email-writing experience.

Apple users are not left out. Open the Settings app on an iPhone, scroll down to Apps, and select Mail. You will see Apple Intelligence & Siri options. Turn off every option there to prevent AI from summarizing, rewriting, or organizing your emails.

Prevent Any Apps From Using Your Data to Train Their AI

One of the biggest concerns about AI is how companies train their models using user data. Most people have agreed to this without realizing it because the permission is buried inside lengthy terms of service agreements. If you want to stop your personal information from being used for AI training, you need to adjust the privacy settings in several apps.

Start with Google. Open the Google app, tap your profile picture, and go to Search History. From there, access Search Services History settings and turn off the toggle that saves your activity. Delete previous activity and uncheck Save media. Scroll down to Search services personalization and My Ad Centre, then turn off Personalized recommendations and Ad personalization.

Other companies also rely on user data for AI training. Meta apps, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, and X all have settings that allow them to use your posts, messages, and activity to improve their AI systems. You can find these controls in the privacy or data settings of each app. It is time-consuming, but it only needs to be done once and gives you much stronger control over your digital footprint.

Turn Off Any AI Optimizations Being Used by Your Keyboard

Even keyboards have been swept up in the AI revolution. Gboard, Google’s keyboard, includes writing tools that can rewrite or restructure your messages. Apple Intelligence can proofread and summarize text typed on an iPhone keyboard. Samsung Keyboard uses Galaxy AI to power writing and chat assist features, while Microsoft SwiftKey leans on Copilot to generate messages and answer questions.

Most keyboards allow you to disable these AI features. On Gboard, tap the gear icon in the keyboard toolbar to open Settings and look for AI-related options. On an iPhone, turning off Apple Intelligence across the phone will also remove the keyboard’s AI tools. Samsung Keyboard lets you edit the toolbar and remove the AI button. SwiftKey has a three-dot menu where you can access Settings and disable any Copilot connected features.

When you turn off these tools, you lose the convenience of automated writing assistance, but you also regain a more private and straightforward typing experience.

Force-Uninstall Any System-Level AI Apps

Some AI apps on Android phones are considered system applications, which means you cannot simply uninstall them from the app drawer. Google Gemini is one of the most common examples. If you want to remove these apps for good, you can use Android Debug Bridge, or ADB, to force uninstall them from your device.

First, enable Developer Options on your phone and turn on USB Debugging. Download Android SDK Platform-Tools on your computer and install ADB. Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable and switch to File Transfer mode. Open a command prompt, PowerShell, or Terminal window in the ADB directory and authorize the connection from your phone.

Once connected, use the command pm list packages | grep followed by the name of the manufacturer or app to find the package name of the unwanted AI app. Then run pm uninstall -k --user 0 with the app package name. This forcibly removes the application without rooting the phone. It is a powerful method, but you should be careful and only uninstall packages you are certain are safe to remove.

Use a Custom OS to Completely Circumvent Any AI Implementations

If you really want to avoid AI at every level, the most thorough solution is to install a custom operating system. Many manufacturers build AI directly into their software, making it impossible to avoid through settings alone. By replacing the operating system, you can remove AI features and restore a more basic, privacy-focused phone experience.

This tip is only practical for Android users. iPhone users cannot easily replace iOS without breaking the device. For Android, LineageOS is a popular choice. It is based on stock Android and includes only essential features, making it ideal for people who want a clean system. Pixel owners may prefer GrapheneOS, which has no Google apps and offers excellent privacy protections.

To install a custom OS, you need a computer and some familiarity with the command line. Start by enabling OEM Unlocking in Developer Options, then use ADB to unlock the bootloader. Install a custom recovery tool such as TWRP and wipe the existing system data. Finally, flash the ROM of your chosen operating system. This process will wipe everything on your phone, so make a complete backup first.

Once the new operating system is installed, your phone will no longer come with AI assistants, AI-enhanced cameras, or smart search features. It is the ultimate way to steer clear of AI with your new mobile phone.

Source:SlashGear News