Libraries Can't Keep Up With Demand for 'Avoiding AI' Workshops

A library in Philadelphia ran an "Avoiding AI" workshop last month and expected maybe a dozen attendees. Forty people showed up. The next session had a waitlist. Now libraries across the country are reporting the same pattern: events designed to teach people how to recognize, limit, and opt out of artificial intelligence are drawing crowds that libraries haven't seen since the early days of computer literacy classes.

The irony writes itself. For the past two decades, public libraries have been the front line of digital inclusion — teaching seniors to email, helping job seekers build resumes, closing the digital divide one free internet terminal at a time. Now those same librarians are fielding a different kind of demand: people who want to know how to avoid the technology that Silicon Valley is pushing into every product they own.

The Anti-AI Workshop Goes Viral

The TechCrunch report by Amanda Silberling, published July 25, details how "Avoiding AI" workshops have become an unexpected phenomenon in American public libraries. At the South Philly Library alone, demand has consistently outstripped capacity, with attendees ranging from retirees concerned about surveillance to young professionals worried about algorithmic manipulation.

"I've never seen anything like it," one librarian told TechCrunch. "People are hungry for information about how AI actually works and how to make choices about using it."

The Bangor Public Library in Maine has launched similar programming, helping patrons understand AI, misinformation, and the digital choices they face daily. The sessions are not Luddite rejection fests; they're practical, information-heavy workshops that treat AI literacy as a civic skill rather than a consumer decision.

What the Workshops Actually Teach

Contrary to what the name might suggest, "Avoiding AI" workshops are less about smashing machines and more about informed consent. Attendees learn:

• How to identify which features in their apps and devices are AI-powered
• What data companies collect to train their models
• How algorithmic recommendation systems shape what they see online
• Practical steps to limit data collection and opt out of AI features
• How to recognize AI-generated content, from deepfakes to chatbot-written text

The curriculum is grounded in digital literacy principles that libraries have taught for years, now applied to the specific challenge of AI transparency. One librarian described it as "nutrition labels for your digital life" — not telling people what to consume, but helping them understand what's in the product.

A Widening Trust Gap

The popularity of these workshops reflects a broader trend that polling data confirms. A 2026 Pew Research Center study on Americans and AI found that a majority of respondents expressed significant concerns about AI's impact on privacy, employment, and social trust. The SurveyMonkey Q1 2026 AI Sentiment Study similarly found that while AI adoption in the workplace continues to grow, worker sentiment has become more skeptical, with 34% of workers reporting that AI has actually increased their workload rather than reduced it, according to Just Capital research.

The gap between Silicon Valley's relentless AI push and public sentiment is growing. Tech companies continue to integrate AI features into operating systems, productivity tools, social media, and search — often without giving users a clear way to opt out. The "Avoiding AI" workshops address what many see as a missing piece of the conversation: the right to say no.

Not Anti-Progress, But Pro-Choice

The people attending these workshops are not uniformly anti-technology. Many are regular smartphone users who happen to be uncomfortable with the direction AI adoption has taken. Some are parents worried about how AI affects their children's privacy. Others are professionals whose industries are being reshaped by automation. A few are simply tired of feeling like their digital tools are making decisions for them.

"Libraries are neutral ground," the South Philly librarian emphasized. "We're not here to tell people AI is bad. We're here to give them the information they need to make their own choices."

The Infrastructure of Resistance

That libraries have become the venue for this conversation is itself significant. As trusted community institutions with a mission of public education, libraries occupy a unique position in the AI debate. They're not tech companies with a profit motive, not government agencies with a policy agenda, and not advocacy groups with a predetermined position. They're information professionals whose core ethos is empowering patrons to make informed decisions.

The UAB Libraries in Alabama have taken a different but related approach, partnering with K-12 educators to share AI resources and skills — not avoidance, but critical engagement. The spectrum of library responses, from "Avoiding AI" workshops to AI literacy programs, shows that libraries are becoming a key battleground in how the public learns to think about artificial intelligence.

The Skeptical Take

It's worth asking whether "Avoiding AI" workshops are a genuine grassroots movement or a media-friendly narrative that gets more attention than participation deserves. The workshops are real and demand is real, but they represent a fraction of library programming nationwide. Most library AI initiatives remain focused on digital literacy and skill-building, not avoidance.

What the workshop phenomenon does reveal, however, is a real and measurable appetite for AI skepticism that the tech industry has been slow to acknowledge. When your local library has a waitlist for a class on how to avoid your product, that's a signal worth paying attention to — regardless of whether it represents a majority view.

The question isn't whether AI will be part of everyday life. It already is. The question is whether people feel they have a meaningful choice in how that happens. And right now, the people lining up for library workshops seem to be answering that question with a clear "no."

Sources

• Librarians are hosting viral 'Avoiding AI' workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech - TechCrunch
• Bangor Public Library helps Mainers understand AI, misinformation, and digital choices - newscentermaine.com
• South Philly Library Hosts Avoiding AI Workshop to Reclaim Digital Control
• UAB Libraries share AI resources with Alabama's K-12 educators
• Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact - Pew Research Center
• 34% of Workers Say AI Has Increased Their Workload - Just Capital
• SurveyMonkey Q1 2026 AI Sentiment Study