Hey followers! Today, let’s explore an interesting update from DuckDuckGo that makes searching a bit smarter and cleaner.
Privacy-conscious web browser DuckDuckGo has rolled out a handy new feature allowing users to filter out AI-generated images in their search results. This came as a response to user feedback, highlighting how AI images can sometimes clutter the search experience.
To enable this feature, simply perform a search on DuckDuckGo, navigate to the Images tab, and look for a new dropdown menu labeled ‘AI images.’ From there, you can choose to either show or hide AI content. There’s also an option to turn on this filter directly in your search settings by selecting ‘Hide AI-Generated Images.’
DuckDuckGo’s new setting is part of a broader effort to curb the flood of low-quality, AI-created media — often called ‘AI slop’ — that’s infiltrating the internet. The filter utilizes manually curated open-source blocklists, including the ‘nuclear’ list from uBlockOrigin and uBlacklist, to identify and hide these images. While it doesn’t catch everything, it significantly reduces unwanted AI images, making your search results cleaner and more relevant.
The company has plans to add more filters in the future, but hasn’t specified what they will be. Interestingly, the new feature’s example shows a search for a baby peacock — a nod to last year’s controversy where Google was criticized for showing more AI-generated images than real ones for that bird.