Why This Matters
This story highlights growing user frustration over the difficulty of fully disabling built-in AI assistants on major operating systems, echoing similar controversies around Microsoft's Recall feature. It matters because it touches on user control, privacy, and trust in how tech giants integrate AI deeply into system processes, sometimes beyond user-facing toggles.
Key Takeaways
- Users report that standard settings do not fully disable Siri/Apple Intelligence processes on macOS.
- The issue draws comparisons to Microsoft's Recall controversy regarding persistent background AI processes.
- Raises broader concerns about user autonomy and privacy when OS-level AI features run despite being 'disabled'.
I disabled Siri in the Settings app, and then further disabled Siri and its extensions in Settings > Screen Time.
Next, I disabled all Siri-related and Apple Intelligence-related services as per https://github.com/OleksandrKrupko/mac-os-debloat
But after restarting, I could still see a "Siri" process running in Activity Monitor. Upon further inspection, I found that it is the "Siri AI.app".
These "features", together with Apple's Personal Context sound very similar to Microsoft's Recall.
Does anyone have the same experience? Is it really impossible to fully turn off Siri, Siri AI, Apple Intelligence and all related services and features on macOS 27?
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