159

Currently, the AI Assist box is seated in a loud-and-proud location at the top of the home page on Stack Overflow.

Example picture of AI Assist on the homepage from the announcement post

I imagine that there might be a few users who didn't ask for this feature and don't really want their screen real-estate to be filled up with a piece of functionality they have no intention of using.

A way of showing/hiding the AI Assist feature on the Stack Overflow home page should be added to the Profile Settings screen, under the list of current preferences.

The link to AI Assist can remain on the sidebar for anyone to directly use the feature if they wish to. This feature request is purely for allowing users to choose whether or not they want that feature to be front and centre or not.

profile preference screen

Improve this question
7
  • 2
    It took me some time to find where it is actually displayed. Now I see that you probably mean this page: stackoverflow.com I automatically went to the URL ending with /questions stackoverflow.com/questions - that's what I typically use on the sites that I frequent. (When I read "the questions list" in your post, this was my first guess.) Commented Dec 2 at 16:18
  • 19
    I would love to see the SO home page become a real home page that we can customize to have the features we enjoy most prioritized. Right now it's not a home page, it's a landing page used to promote features the company cares about. Commented Dec 2 at 16:24
  • 13
    We were told we were going to get a customizable home page, but all they gave us was a question list where they inject questions at the top, out of order, that match your watched tags. Just another failed promise. Commented Dec 2 at 16:51
  • 16
    Yes, I won't ever use it but I don't really use SO, either... I think the reason it bothers me is because it addresses me by name and thinks I want to learn something. It's just so... icky. What sort of librarian goes up to someone who walks into a library and asks "Hi Catija, What do you want to learn today?" FFS... no, that's not normal. They don't know my name and, at most, they'll just ask if they can help me find something. This overfamiliarity is just weird. It's kinda like HAL vibes. Or the people in that new Apple TV show, Pluribus. Commented Dec 3 at 16:35
  • 2
    @Catija You are absolutely right! Commented Dec 3 at 19:43
  • 1
    Hot Network Questions have been removed, and replaced by whatever this is? WTF. Commented 2 days ago
  • 6
    I don't use the homepage because it long ago stopped being salvageable, but I'll support any attempt to make it less bad. Commented 2 days ago

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
42

As always, uBlock Origin to the rescue.

stackoverflow.com##h1:has(.iconAnswerAI)
stackoverflow.com##h1:has(.iconAnswerAI) + *
stackoverflow.com###mainbar > div:first-child:has(textarea#ask-stack-initial-question)
Improve this answer
16
  • 52
    Personally, I’d much rather SE listen to the community and give people the option to opt out if they so wish. We should not have to resort to having to hack to get the results we want. Commented Dec 2 at 18:23
  • 3
    @Snow it's only a temporary measure until they do ;) Surely in 6 to 8. Commented Dec 2 at 18:42
  • 9
    It is getting increasingly hard to keep track of just what horrible "features" I have blocked in uBlock. When they released this I thought I had managed to block out watched tags, but it turned out to be just another horrible design change, suddenly making the front page design look different than questions/tag search. I think the most sensible fix is rather to never use stackoverflow.com but always stackoverflow.com/questions or your favourite tag. Boycotting the site entirely is sensible too. Commented Dec 3 at 7:24
  • 2
    @Lundin SE added an ID you can block on the front page. It was supposed to wrap non-essential widgets. It was explicitly added to allow removing those widgets by targetting this ID. Seems they just forgot. Now blocking it removes the ask button and just one of the distracting titles on the page. Commented Dec 3 at 7:29
  • 8
    @VLAZ On that related note, which "brilliant" ux person moved the ask a question button out in the periphery... AI cancer: important. Asking questions: not important. Commented Dec 3 at 7:33
  • 2
    @Lundin but why would you ask a question if you can ask AI Assist?! Commented Dec 3 at 7:34
  • @VLAZ Good point. I went to ask AI Assist if this design change was a good idea: meta.stackexchange.com/a/415156/170024. Commented Dec 3 at 7:46
  • AI Assist, please tell me the best hacks using browser addons to either conceal you or completely stop anything related to you from being loaded. Commented Dec 3 at 13:43
  • 3
    @Snow we both know they won't listen. Go read all of staff Ash's replies on every complaint. Commented Dec 3 at 21:23
  • 2
    @sehrgut feedback is feedback and saying something is better than saying nothing. Commented Dec 3 at 21:42
  • @Snow I do agree, which is why that's what I've been spending the last half hour doing. Commented Dec 3 at 21:49
  • 1
    @sehrgut Getting suspended isn’t exactly the best strategy to get heard Commented Dec 3 at 21:53
  • @user400654 because they've been listening to all the polite people? ok.... Commented Dec 3 at 22:02
  • 3
    @sehrgut no, it’s because they definitely don’t listen to people who get themselves suspended. We’re engaging in rational, respectful feedback. Commented Dec 3 at 22:08
  • 2
    Add also this ||stackoverflow.com/ai-assist^$document , if you don't want to talk to AI while being on StackOverflow at all. This will block the dedicated AI page that opens on a popup click. Commented 2 days ago
29

Until such time as "kill it with fire" becomes an option, or OpenAI collapses under the weight of its patently unsustainable financial strategy, opting-out would do just nicely.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.