Elyse Betters Picaro (with graphic elements from Paolo Boaretto, Sparklestroke Global, and Cosmic Latte via Canva) / ZDNET
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing AI used in place of actual search results in my web browser or used to summarize whatever I'm looking for. Google has become useless because of this, and other popular search engines are following close behind.
With more and more search tools turning to AI, what can you do? Are there alternatives that aren't pushing AI front and center?
Why yes, there are.
Here's a short list of search engines that do not push AI in your face and instead go the old‑school route with actual website results.
Also: How to get rid of AI Overviews in Google Search: 4 easy ways
I will offer this one warning: At least two of these search engines (Brave and DuckDuckGo) offer AI features that can be disabled.
In Brave's case, it's the Answer With AI feature that can be disabled in Settings, and with DuckDuckGo, there's a button at the top-right for Duck AI, which you can also disable in Settings. Once you've disabled those features, they won't appear in your search results or on the main page of the engine.
1. Brave
Did you know that Brave has its own search engine? That's right -- go to search.brave.com, and you won't find AI at the center of this privacy‑focused search engine. You just need to disable the Answer With AI feature in Settings first.
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