DuckDuckGo continues to give users the ability to control how much they interact with AI, with its latest feature giving users the ability to disable AI-generated images in search results.

DuckDuckGo is a popular search engine that focuses on user privacy. As the company’s user base has grown, it has increasingly expanded its offerings, bringing its privacy-oriented focus to additional products and services. The company’s approach to AI is a perfect example, allowing users to utilize some of the latest AI models without the requiring them to sign up for an account or give over personal information.

In its latest announcement, DuckDuckGo has added the ability to block AI-generated images from search results. The company made the announcement via an X post.

New setting: hide AI-generated images in DuckDuckGo

Our philosophy about AI features is “private, useful, and optional.” Our goal is to help you find what you’re looking for. You should decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life – or if you want any at all.

To that end, we’ve added a new setting to hide AI-generated images in your results when you’re searching for images on DuckDuckGo.

Try it by making a search on DuckDuckGo and heading to the Images tab. You’ll see a new drop-down option: AI images: show or AI images: hide.

The filter relies on manually curated open-source blocklists, including the “nuclear” list, provided by uBlockOrigin and uBlacklist Huge AI Blocklist. While it won’t catch 100% of AI-generated results, it will greatly reduce the number of AI-generated images you see.

You can also turn on the filter in your search settings and choosing Hide AI-Generated Images > Off

Or bookmark http://noai.duckduckgo.com, where the image filter is auto enabled, AI-assisted summaries are switched off, and http://Duck.ai chat icons are hidden.

The tech industry has been rushing to push AI in every possible application, whether users want it or not. Microsoft, for example, has been adding Copilot AI features to Windows, despite the fact that some of those features—such as Recall—pose significant privacy and cybersecurity risks, and many users don’t want such features in their OS.

DuckDuckGo’s latest announcement is a welcome one for users who want to remain in control of AI tools, including whether or not they are used.