Attention Deficit · episode 003 · visual 02Hannah Cyrus · July 2026

Refusal as instruction

The first useful skill may be turning it off.Why did that require a class?

People asked why AI was writing their emails and summarizing messages they had already read. A librarian answered with a workshop on how to refuse it.

The page starts where many products do, with the feature on and the switch buried.

mail settings · assistantdefault state

AI assistance

Features arrived through an update. No one asked first.

Draft repliesSuggest complete responses while you type.
Summarize short messagesReplace the message with an automated synopsis.
Use product activity for AILocation of the off switch varies by account and product.
Current route
settings → account → privacy → intelligence → individual features

The off-switch path

Move the off switch closer.

The path opens with the off switch buried. Move the scrubber until the off switch sits beside the feature.

01 · DEFAULT ON

The product turns AI on.

The product turns AI on during an update. The user must notice the change before looking for the off switch.

02 · BURIED SWITCH

The off switch sits five screens away.

The off switch exists, but people must find it. Libraries become the help desk for that product choice.

03 · VISIBLE SWITCH

The off switch sits beside the feature.

People can understand the feature and turn it off in the same place. The choice lasts.

04 · EXPLICIT OPT-IN

The product asks first.

Before turning AI on, the product explains the feature, its data path, and the non-AI path.

off-switch path · feature to choicedefault on
Distance between an AI feature and its off switchThe path starts with five settings layers and moves toward explicit opt-in.AI OFFPERSISTSTHE PRODUCT DECIDED FIRSTThe product turns AI on before offering a choice.
1
FEATURE STATEWho made the first decision?
ON
2
OFF SWITCHHow far away is the off switch?
NOT SHOWN
3
RESULTDoes the user keep the choice?
NOT OFFERED
five settings layers
explicit opt-invisible switchburied switch
defaulton
discoverabilityspecialist help
choice persistsunclear
The path shows settings depth, not time. Products differ. The question is how much work it takes to reach the off switch.
01 · THE DEMAND

The workshop filled a thirty-person room.

Cyrus’s normal technology classes draw around a dozen people. The first Avoiding AI workshop hit the room limit, opened a waitlist, and drew roughly forty more people online.

Workshop attendance · peopleshared scale · reported counts
010203040TYPICAL CLASSaround a dozen12ROOM LIMITwaitlist opened30ONLINEroughly forty more≈40
TYPICAL CLASS 12
ROOM LIMIT 30
ONLINE ≈40
The online count is approximate. The lines share one zero baseline, so their lengths remain directly comparable.
02 · DIGITAL LITERACY

Knowing how to use a tool is only half the lesson.

The workshop explains the feature before showing people the off switch. People can choose after they understand what the feature does.

→

Use it on purpose

Understand the feature, its data path, its limits, and the task it changes.

←

Turn it off on purpose

Find the off switch, keep the choice, and keep a path that does not require the model.

03 · PRODUCT TEST

A real off switch changes the product contract.

An off switch buried in settings is not real choice. The product must keep the choice visible and make it last.

01

Visible where AI appears

Place the off switch next to the feature it changes.

02

Off after the next update

Do not turn the feature back on or hide it under a new name.

03

A non-AI path still works

People should not lose the original product when they turn AI off.

04

The data path stays clear

Name which model touched the work and where the data went.

“The first useful AI skill may be knowing how to say no to AI.”

If opting out requires a workshop, the product still has work to do.