What to know
- Most AI chatbots and services let you prevent AI from training on your data.
- This can be effected with a simple toggle that is mostly available within the Settings page of the AI service. Look for Data privacy settings and switch off the toggle for the option that pertains to using your data for training the AI model.
- Popular AI chatbots and AI services like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and LinkedIn have such a toggle right within its Settings.
- Meta AI is one service that simply doesn't let you opt out of AI training easily, if at all. Unless you're in the EU or the UK, or have legitimate proof of your personal data being misused in the US, there's nothing much you can do about it.
By default, every AI chatbot and AI-powered service uses your data to train on. This is what allows each iteration of its AI model to be better than before. But if you're not comfortable with artificial intelligence leeching off of your natural intelligence, there's something you can do about it.
How to disable AI from using your data for training
While you can delete your chat history to prevent AI from training on your data, it's not the ideal way of doing things. For one, the AI can still use your data before it is deleted. You may also want to keep your chat history intact so you can return to it whenever needed. This is why it's better to stop the AI from training on your data regardless of whether or not you have chat history in place. Here's how to go about it.
ChatGPT
The steps to disable AI model training are slightly different depending on where you're using ChatGPT.
On the web
Here's how to disable AI model training on ChatGPT web.
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Click on your profile icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
Step 2: Select Data controls on the left.
Step 3: Click on Improve the model for everyone on the right.
Step 4: Toggle off Improve the model for everyone and click Done.
On the Mobile app
Here's how to disable AI model training on ChatGPT's mobile app.
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Tap on the two-horizontal lines in the top left corner.
Step 2: Tap on your account name in the bottom left.
Step 3: Select Data controls.
Step 4: Toggle off Improve the model for everyone.
Optional: If you're fine with the AI model being trained on your chats but don't want ChatGPT to use your audio recordings from voice mode, toggle off Include your audio recordings option. And with the release of ChatGPT's video functionality tied to the voice mode, you can also toggle off Include your video recordings separately.
Otherwise, when you disable AI training for chats, it will disable AI training for audio and video recordings as well.
Sora
OpenAI's recently released text-to-video tool Sora also trains on your content. But since it's a separate tool, you'll need to disable the AI training on your content separately. Here's how.
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Open Sora.com, click on your profile icon in the top right corner, and select Settings.
Step 2: In the 'General' section, toggle off Improve the model for everyone.
Gemini
Unlike ChatGPT, when you stop Gemini from using your data for training its model, it also turns off your chat history and access to extensions. Unfortunately, there's no way around it for now. So, with that in mind, here's how to prevent Gemini from training on your data.
On the web
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Go to gemini.google.com and select Activity from the bottom left corner.
Step 2: Next to Gemini Apps Activity, click on Turn off. Then select Turn off or Turn off and delete activity.
Step 3: Click Got it.
As mentioned earlier, turning off activity will also disable chat history and extensions. Your chats will still be saved in your account for the next 72 hours. After this, when you start a new chat, Gemini will remind you that the current chat will be deleted once done.
On the Mobile app
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Launch the Gemini app. Then tap on your account picture (or initial) in the top right corner and select Gemini Apps Activity.
Step 2: The 'Your Gemini Apps Activity page' will open in a browser window. Here, next to Gemini Apps Activity, tap on Turn off.
Step 3: Select Turn off or Turn off and delete activity.
Step 4: Finally, click Got it.
Copilot
Thankfully, Copilot is another one of those AI tools that let you disable AI training without also disabling your chat history. Here's how to go about it.
On the web (and Copilot desktop app)
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Open copilot.microsoft.com or launch the Copilot desktop app and login.
Step 2: Click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
Step 3: Click on your account name.
Step 4: Click Privacy.
Step 5: Toggle off Model training on text and Model training on voice.
On the Mobile app
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Launch the Copilot app.
Step 2: Tap on your profile icon in the top right corner.
Step 3: Tap on your account name.
Step 4: Tap Privacy.
Step 5: Toggle off Model training on text and Model training on voice.
Perplexity
Here's how to disable AI training on Perplexity.
On the web
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Click on the gear icon next to your username in the bottom left corner.
Step 2: Under the 'Account' section, toggle off AI Data Retention.
On the Mobile app
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Launch the Perplexity app. Then tap on your account in the top left corner.
Step 2: Find the AI Data Usage option and toggle it Off.
Grok (X/Twitter)
Now that xAI's Grok is available for free even to non-premium X users, it becomes all the more important to ensure that your data doesn't end up becoming the product itself. Here's how to opt out of AI training on X.
On the web
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Click on More (three-dot icon) in the bottom left corner.
Step 2: Select Settings and Privacy.
Step 3: Click on Privacy and safety.
Step 4: Under 'Data sharing and personalization', select Grok & Third-party Collaborators.
Step 5: Toggle off Allow your public data as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok and xAI to be used for training and fine-tuning.
On the Mobile app
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Launch the X app and login. Then tap on your profile icon in the top left corner.
Step 2: Tap on Settings & Support and select Settings and privacy.
Step 3: Tap on Privacy and safety.
Step 4: Under 'Data sharing and personalisation', tap on Grok & Third-party Collaborators.
Step 5: Toggle off Allow your public data as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok and xAI to be used for training and fine-tuning.
Ever since LinkedIn employed the use of AI services to the platform, it has also started sharing your data with the AI for training purposes. Fortunately, there's a simply toggle to disable it.
On the web
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Log into LinkedIn on the web. Then click on your Me tab and select Settings & privacy.
Step 2: Select Data Privacy on the left.
Step 3: On the right, under the 'How LinkedIn uses your data', select Data for Generative AI Improvement.
Step 4: Here, simply toggle off Use my data for training content creation AI models.
On the Mobile app
Video Guide
Step-by-step guide with screenshots
Step 1: Launch the LinkedIn app and tap on your profile picture in the top left corner.
Step 2: Select Settings.
Step 3: Tap on Data privacy.
Step 4: Under the 'How LinkedIn uses your data', tap on Data for Generative AI Improvement.
Step 5: Here, simply toggle off Use my data for training content creation AI models.
Meta AI
Unfortunately, Meta purposefully makes it extremely difficult to find out how your data is being used to train its AI. And it doesn't take a cynic to imagine the nefarious purposes to which your data can be put to use. In any case, for most of the world, Meta doesn't allow you to opt out of the AI model being trained on your data.
But if you live in Europe or the UK, there's a Right to Object form that you can fill that should get your data off Meta AI's radar.
For those in the US, things are a little more complicated. There's a different form called 'Data Subject Rights for Third Party Information Used for AI at Meta'.
Start this form by checking the box next to 'I have a concern about my personal information from third parties that's related to a response I received from an AI at Meta model, feature or experience'.
Then continue filling this form. You'll need to provide your basic details first. Then you'll need to provide the relevant prompts that generated a response that included your personal information as well as the screenshots of that response. Then hit Send.
Note: This method works only if you've found your data being explicitly included in the AI's response while you were chatting with the AI. The odds of this happening are exceptionally low and it's hardly a reason that anyone can use to get their data from being used by Meta's AI.
If you can't provide these 'proofs', or if this option isn't available in your region, there's little you can do except pressurize your governments to bring Meta to its senses (as did the EU).
Discussion