A public library in upstate New York has gone viral for offering an unusual kind of tech assistance: helping people switch off AI features on their phones and computers.
That attention centers on North Chatham, where the library serves roughly 800 cardholders, and its "Bye Bye AI" flyer sparked an online response that reached far beyond the hamlet.
Here's what to know
According to Business Insider, the North Chatham Free Library has a drop-in event for patrons who want help reducing AI features and addressing internet privacy concerns.
Shea Wert, the library's only full-time librarian, said the program came out of repeated complaints from patrons about new features appearing in tools they already use.
"There's just been enough patrons asking about certain things that bothered them, specifically Gmail auto replies and auto completes really frustrate people," Wert said.
People from far beyond New York weighed in online.
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"Do I live anywhere near this library? No. Am I in support of this? Hell yeah!" one commenter wrote.
Another added, "I'm in central CA and wonder if we can have a digital guide that our own Mariposa County Library could use for a similar program?"
More background
The "Bye Bye AI" event focuses on limiting or avoiding AI features, but in April, the library also held an "AI for seniors" session introducing attendees to AI and large language models.
Wert told Business Insider she is not broadly opposed to AI, as she has used it at work for tasks like drafting outlines or working through dense policy text. She also helps patrons use large language models more effectively.
Both Wert and librarian Hannah Cyrus said that older adults make up most of the people seeking help with AI or other tech issues, and many are frustrated by AI features being added to services they already use.
What can be done?
Cyrus' work helped inspire Wert's event. Cyrus has led free classes that show people how to disable AI tools or steer clear of them on phones and computers.
"Libraries have a role to play in facilitating patrons' rejection of technology, just as much as in their adoption of it," Cyrus wrote in a journal of library studies.
Interest from other librarians followed. In July, Cyrus' article led people to contact her for help putting on similar classes.
"I've heard from hundreds of librarians from all over the world asking for my presentation slides," she said.
For Wert, that response reflects what she often hears from visitors in person: "It's more common that they haven't used it and they don't want to use it."
Where can I learn more?
Questions about unwanted AI features and unreliable automated outputs are surfacing well beyond one small library.
• The Chicago Sun-Times faced the perils of AI when a fake reading list spread.
• On Fable, disturbing AI-generated reader summaries left users accusing the book app of causing harm.
• Across the United States, the backlash may get brutal as worries grow over AI's costs.
• Psychologists are raising red flags about AI in therapy as reliance grows.
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