DuckDuckGo: Image search without AI images

If you search for images of a walking duck on DuckDuckGo, you can choose whether you also want to see AI-generated images of walking ducks or not. However, this distinction is not quite so trivial.

The drop-down menu for selecting or deselecting AI can be found next to the familiar filter options, such as a region-restricted search or the default colors. However, you can also go to the settings and activate the filter permanently, as well as use the search engine via the noai.duckduckgo.com page, in which case you will not see any AI summaries. DuckDuckGo justifies the options by saying that you should be able to decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life.

According to DuckDuckGo, the AI filter for the images is based on manually curated open source blocklists, including the so-called “nuclear list” from uBlockOrigin and uBlacklist Huge AI Blocklist. However, it is also clear that these cannot provide absolute certainty that all AI-generated images will actually be found. DuckDuckGo writes on X that it will drastically reduce the number of AI-generated images. The nuclear list does not contain the images themselves, but websites on which AI-generated content can be found. If you already have uBlock Origin installed as an extension for your browser, you can also import and use the list yourself. It can be found on GitHub.

The Pope is not on the list

The search for images of the Pope in a down coat shows how difficult it is to exclude AI images from the search. This AI-generated image received a lot of attention, including from traditional media. Accordingly, the images can be found on numerous popular news websites, which in turn are not excluded from the list. However, sites that contain spam-like AI images and texts are filtered, which apparently includes Pixabay, a collection of royalty-free images.

Other search engines do not yet have such a filter. In general, the motto at Google, Perplexity, and the like seems to be that everyone wants to have as much AI in their lives as possible. Nevertheless, Google still offers the option of starting a pure web search, i.e., without the AI overviews. This “Web” selection can be found under the Google search input field.

(emw)