Eve is here. Useful news! And it helps limit readers’ exposure to the abuse of two long-standing pieces of advice. One is the surveillance state’s constant efforts to expand its reach. The second is how AI companies steal the original work and feed it into their training sets without consent or compensation.
Written by Thomas Neuberger. Originally published on God’s Spies
The gloriously named Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California.
As many of us are aware, AI is entering our lives in a huge way.
Since clinics are using AI to replace human scribes, the entire consultation must be recorded and stored. for how long? This is subject to change or change. And AI will soon decide whether you’re too disabled to drive your own car (read more about that here).
The rush to AI, the rush to prop up stock prices and cut employees, is creating an AI fence between you and every corporate entity that runs your life. For example, AI is now guarding the door between you and your next job or loan.
AI is also entering trade with nations. Are you planning to be audited again this year? AI will make the decision. How will your social security fight be handled? AI will replace humans to take care of your needs. And, of course, AI enforcement is already in place.
AI is not only “changing what it means to be human,” but for us little humans, us Muppets, it is completely replacing humans in our interactions with corporations and governments. Because even though money has a tendency to make big mistakes.
And that doesn’t even begin to discuss AI battlefield killings. The use of AI is something that no one wants to grow except those who control it.
Girls murdered in Minab, Iran (Ons Abid/AP Photo)
Gmail and AI
This leads us to discuss the intrusion of AI into our digital lives. AI is ubiquitous in most computers and websites. This time, let’s take a look at Gmail and AI.
The latest version of Gmail, a web-based email client, enables AI email scanning and analysis. If you want an AI to monitor you, no problem. Leave it on.
If you want to de-AI your Gmail account, at least to the extent possible, follow these steps: I found out about this thanks to this Twitter account. The thread starts like this (slightly edited from mine):
If you have a Gmail account, this is a must-read.
Google’s AI scans everything from emails and attachments to bank statements, tax files, medical letters, and more. It’s turned on by default, and there’s a class-action lawsuit over how it’s done. […]
Google automatically enabled AI features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet for many users in late 2025. These features can read emails, messages, and attachments and create summaries and suggestions.
Google claims that your email does not train Gemini, but some users argue that they never explicitly consented to these AI features being enabled. AI can analyze your inbox and provide these features unless you turn them off.
The thread explains the steps in detail. As I worked through them, I found that there were differences between his steps and mine, so here are the steps I modified based on my own experience.
Change your Gmail settings
Change key settings for Gmail and Google Workspace:
⚙[設定]→[すべての設定を表示]Move to. In your browser’s search bar (Ctrl-F), search for the word “smart” (without the quotes).
Find everything that says “smart” in settings and turn it off. My version of Gmail includes grammar, spell checking, autocorrect, smart compose, smart compose customization, and smart replies. Your list may vary. is the main setting checkbox.[スマート機能]Make sure it’s turned off (see below).
Go to Google Workspace smart features,[Workplace スマート機能設定の管理]Click the button (above). On the next screen, toggle everything off and click Save. Go to the bottom of the main settings page,[変更を保存]Click (Important).
Please check your phone settings. Delete your Gemini history.
The author also recommends that you:
your phone. Settings aren’t always synced across devices, so check your Gmail app separately.
Gmail app → Menu (☰) → Settings → Select account → Turn off “Smart features and personal settings” → Confirm.
If you’re already using Gemini:
Delete Gemini history. If you’ve used Gemini before, your chats may be saved and some may be reviewed by humans.
Go to http://myactivity.google.com/product/gemini → Turn off Gemini app activity → Delete activity → All time.
This will delete your past Gemini chat history and prevent future conversations from being saved.
I had no history with Gemini, but that’s not true for everyone.
Will this stop Google from monitoring you?
You can say that Google is always watching you. This is their revenue model. See ads to sell, see profiles to sell. That’s why they are so rich.
But, at least for now, it appears that turning off smart features in your Gmail or Google Workspace account means that AI is no longer used to power those features, and is actually turned off. Additionally, as of this writing, Google claims that Gmail’s smart features are not a backdoor way to train its AI. At least so far.
Will any of these always be true? No, but so far it seems to be true. If you care, I’ll follow these steps.
