how to turn off google AI-generated search prompts

the other night i had a very awkward encounter with my internet friends. basically, i was complaining about how my father uses chatGPT to write science fiction books as a hobby and how it more or less consumes his life. it was only until i mentioned that i briefly mentioned that i use chatGPT to search for things that they began to turn on me and basically call me an idiot for using any LLM at all.

side note: "there is no reason in the world to use chatGPT. i got my degree and went to school before AI was a  thing" (real quote, by the way). yeah i never said you didn't. but when i'm trying to figure out how to do something, like figure out what the hell a cam-buckle is on my 90s bicycle seat-post tool bag, would i rather make a post on reddit, and either get called an idiot or never get a response (but 100+ views on my post???), or ask the robot and get an answer instantly that it understood based off my description because that's all i have to offer it? humble yourself.

but it did lead me to the realization: i really, really don't like AI. i miss when people did things and actually had to work a little bit to do what they wanted to do. other than the example i just mentioned, there really isn't a need for AI to exist. we had ways to do things before AI came around, and it's not like i'm forced to use AI for anything anyway, so i decided to just not use it. this conversation wasn't the only thing that made me realize this. it was actually mostly the fact that i recently used chatGPT to help me write an essay for english, and i ended up getting an A+. good in the eyes of others, but to me, it feels like it worked too well and it just didn't feel right.

so anyway, how did i turn off AI generated searches on google? i just installed this plugin. yeah, it was really that easy. and you know what? i prefer it. it's a much more familiar experience, and yeah it takes a little more time to find whatever i'm looking for, but i think that makes the information you're seeking more intentional. you're not just googling for a quick and easy answer that you'll forget immediately after you close the tab, you're really searching. and that's pretty cool. only problem is that it seems to disable the ability to look at photos on google images? it's weird. but it does what i wanted, so it's fine.

and to those who may be wondering: i did delete my chatGPT account. don't need that either.