Need a break from the AI features on your phone? Here’s how to deactivate them

There’s no denying that artificial intelligence has made life simpler. In fact, it quite literally, finishes our sentences! From generating a thoughtful message to helping us with what to wear, there’s a lot AI can do for us. But its increasing dependency is a worrying cause for many, and not everyone appreciates its constant hand-holding across straightforward day-to-day functions.

If you fall under this category and want an AI-free smartphone experience, there are ways to turn it off on your Android phone. Here’s how to go about it:

How to turn off AI features on your Android phone

AI features are great when you need to simplify your daily work. However, they may even be intrusive in some instances and also pose valid privacy concerns. If you prefer a more traditional phone experience, here’s how you can disable AI on your Android smartphone:

Turning off Google Assistant

Disabling Google Assistant is perhaps the first step to turning off AI features on your Android phone. In fact, switching it off can also prevent it from accidentally activating or hearing your conversations and it eventually reduces your background activity.

Step 1: Open the Google app on your phone

Step 2: Tap on your profile picture (located in the top-right corner) and select Settings

Step 3: Locate Google Assistant in this list and scroll down to the General section

Step 4: Here, you will find an option to toggle off Google Assistant

This will switch off Google Assistant with immediate effect, and it is crucial to note that your device will no longer respond to ‘Hey Google’.

ALSO READ: Google’s Gemini AI button may come to your lock screen

Turning off smart text prediction

Smart text prediction helps you complete your messages and emails, but many may find it distracting. Here’s how you can disable it on your smartphone.

Step 1: On your device, open Settings and navigate to System. There, you will find Languages & Inputs as an option

Step 2: Within this, tap on the On-Screen Keyboard option. You will then find the keyboard you use (such as Gboard, Swiftkey or Samsung Keyboard)

Step 3: Select your default option and turn off Predictive Text by tapping on Text correction and disabling Show suggestion strip and Next-word suggestions (Gboard).

This should stop the keyboard from offering suggestions as you type.

Turning off AI-powered camera enhancements

Several Android smartphones come with AI-powered camera enhancements that can touch up photos automatically. However, if you wish to do away with this and edit your photos manually, you may need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Launch the camera app on your device

Step 2: Look for a gear icon indicating Settings within your camera interface

Step 3: If your phone has built-in AI features, you will find options such as Scene optimiser, AI enhancements, or Auto HDR here. You can turn them off individually.

However, keep in mind that different brands use different names for their AI-powered camera enhancement features; make sure you explore the app to find the ones applicable to your device.

ALSO READ: 5 features that you just can’t miss on Gemini

Turning off AI-based battery optimising features

Google has equipped many phones with AI-powered battery management which allows them to analyse usage patterns and optimise battery life effectively. However, this can also end up restricting important background activities for apps that you may want to run. Check out the steps to disable it:

Step 1: Open Settings on your phone and navigate to Battery or Device Care (if you’re using a Samsung phone)

Step 2: Here, locate Adaptive Battery or Battery Optimisation options

Step 3: Then, turn off Adaptive Battery to stop AI from restricting your background app activity

While this may initially reduce your battery life, it certainly gives you more control in choosing which apps deserve to run in the background.

Disabling smart notifications

Notifications on your Android phone can now be sorted into categories with AI, and this further allows your phone to group and prioritise alerts for you. Here’s what you should do to disable them:

Step 1: Open Settings on your phone and locate Apps & Notifications, or Notifications

Step 2: Next, tap on Adaptive Notifications or Smart Notifications

Step 3: Toggle off the option that can automatically group or prioritise your notifications

This will make sure your alerts are displayed when they arrive, and AI will no longer filter or reorder them for you.

Disabling AI-generated content in Google Photos

Google Photos currently uses AI to automatically enhance your images and create collections for you. If you prefer a more manual control over your media, there are a few steps to disable these features:

Step 1: Open Google Photos on your phone

Step 2: Tap on your profile picture (located in the top corner) and select Photos settings

Step 3: Within Settings, look for options like Suggested Edits and Memories, and toggle them off

Doing this will prevent Google Photos from automatically suggesting edits or creating AI-generated collections of your images.

Turning off AI-powered search and recommendations

Android’s AI-driven search provides personalised suggestions based on your browsing and app usage patterns. Here’s how you can turn off this feature:

Step 1: Open Settings on your device and navigate to Google, then select Manage your Google Account

Step 2: Locate Data & Privacy and scroll down until you find Web & App Activity

Step 3: Toggle off Include Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services

This step ensures that AI no longer tracks your browsing habits or creates tailored recommendations for you.

ALSO READ: 10 new Samsung Galaxy S25 AI features you must know about

Turning off AI-enhanced voice typing

AI-powered voice typing converts your speech to text while making contextual predictions. If you want a more straightforward voice-to-text experience:

Step 1: Open Settings and navigate to Languages & input

Step 2: Tap on Google Voice Typing or your preferred voice input option

Step 3: Find and disable Enhanced voice typing to prevent AI-based modifications

This will ensure your voice input is transcribed exactly as spoken, without any AI enhancements or corrections.

Following these steps will help you take control of your smartphone like never before! For more tips and tricks, make sure you’re subscribed to Unboxed by Croma.