If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.
If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.
如果你在使用 Google，你就在训练它的 AI。以下是退出方法。
Consider this a belated PSA: A recent change to Google’s privacy settings is allowing the company to store more of your data, including media such as “images, files, and audio and video recordings,” to improve its AI models. In other words, if you upload any media to Google’s Search services, it’s being used to train AI unless you opt out. The change came about via an under-the-radar update to Google’s Search services privacy settings, announced in June via a customer email. With the update, the company essentially opted people into this expanded AI training under the guise of giving users more control over their saved history and personalized recommendations.
请将此视为一则迟来的公告：Google 最近对其隐私设置进行了更改，允许公司存储更多用户数据，包括“图像、文件以及音频和视频录制”等媒体内容，以改进其 AI 模型。换句话说，如果你向 Google 搜索服务上传任何媒体内容，除非你选择退出，否则这些内容都将被用于训练 AI。这一变化源于 Google 搜索服务隐私设置的一次低调更新，该公司在 6 月份通过一封客户电子邮件宣布了此消息。通过此次更新，Google 实质上是在以“让用户更好地控制保存的历史记录和个性化推荐”为幌子，将用户默认纳入了这项扩展的 AI 训练计划中。
Google is now training on your media, too. The update introduced two new settings, Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations, allowing you to configure how your activity is used to personalize your Google experience and how long your web and app activity is saved. This update applies beyond Google Search itself, and also includes other search services such as Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News. For instance, when you use Google Lens to search for something visually by snapping a photo, that image may now be saved for AI training. Similarly, if you use the newer Search Live feature to search via voice input in the Google app, those audio recordings could be saved, as can any other Google voice search. If you use Google Translate to practice speaking, that audio is saved, too.
Google 现在也开始利用你的媒体内容进行训练。此次更新引入了两项新设置：“搜索服务历史记录”和“个性化推荐”，允许你配置如何利用你的活动来个性化你的 Google 体验，以及保存你的网络和应用活动的时长。此更新不仅适用于 Google 搜索本身，还涵盖了地图、购物、航班、酒店、翻译和新闻等其他搜索服务。例如，当你使用 Google Lens 拍照进行视觉搜索时，该图像现在可能会被保存用于 AI 训练。同样，如果你使用 Google 应用中较新的“搜索直播”（Search Live）功能进行语音搜索，这些录音可能会被保存，其他任何 Google 语音搜索也是如此。如果你使用 Google 翻译练习口语，该音频也会被保存。
The changes reflect a broader industry shift toward gathering data by any means necessary to improve AI services. Instead of relying solely on information scraped from the web, Google and others are increasingly collecting data that people upload or create when using their services. Meta is another example of a consumer-facing tech company doing this at scale, training its AI on users’ images and media, as well as on content recorded by its AI glasses. Google confirms the media-training use directly, stating in that email to customers: “Like your Search Services History, your saved media is also used to develop and improve Google services and technologies, including AI models and safety measures.” Its help documentation echoes this, noting that the company “uses your history to provide, develop, and improve its services (such as training generative AI models) and to protect Google, its users, and the public with the help of human reviewers.” Some of this storage is temporary and tied to making the product work, but per Google’s own language, saved media can also be retained specifically to train its AI.
这些变化反映了整个行业的一种大趋势：为了改进 AI 服务，不惜一切代价收集数据。Google 及其他公司不再仅仅依赖从网络上抓取的信息，而是越来越多地收集人们在使用其服务时上传或创建的数据。Meta 是另一家大规模进行此类操作的消费级科技公司，它利用用户的图像和媒体，以及其 AI 眼镜录制的内容来训练 AI。Google 直接证实了媒体训练用途，并在给客户的电子邮件中声明：“与你的搜索服务历史记录一样，你保存的媒体内容也被用于开发和改进 Google 的服务和技术，包括 AI 模型和安全措施。”其帮助文档也呼应了这一点，指出该公司“使用你的历史记录来提供、开发和改进其服务（例如训练生成式 AI 模型），并在人工审核员的帮助下保护 Google、其用户和公众。”其中一些存储是临时的，与产品功能实现有关，但根据 Google 自己的说法，保存的媒体内容也可以专门保留用于训练其 AI。
Adjusting your settings: The good news is you have some control here. You can change your preferences on the Search Services History and Search Services Personalization pages. On the former, you can uncheck the “Save Media” box separately from the “Search Services History” box, or uncheck both. You can also configure how often you want saved data automatically deleted — after three months, 18 months, or 36 months. From there, you can jump to this page to dig into other privacy settings, including Web & App Activity, Timeline, YouTube History, and more.
调整你的设置：好消息是，你对此拥有一定的控制权。你可以在“搜索服务历史记录”和“搜索服务个性化”页面上更改你的偏好。在前者中，你可以单独取消勾选“保存媒体”框，或者将其与“搜索服务历史记录”框一并取消勾选。你还可以配置希望保存的数据自动删除的频率——可以选择 3 个月、18 个月或 36 个月后删除。此外，你可以跳转到此页面深入了解其他隐私设置，包括“网络与应用活动记录”、“时间轴”、“YouTube 历史记录”等。
Beyond saved media, Google also uses your search history, location, and other information from the websites you visit to personalize your experience on Google, including which ads are shown. Before this update, Google let you configure what historical search data was saved via its “Web & App Activity” settings. That’s now been separated into two settings: the Web & App Activity data and the new Search data setting, which is on by default. That means if you make a change to the Web & App Activity data retention settings in an effort to opt out of having your data stored by the tech giant, the update will no longer impact your use of Google Search services, as it’s now a separate option.
除了保存的媒体内容外，Google 还利用你的搜索历史、位置信息以及你访问网站的其他信息来个性化你在 Google 上的体验，包括向你展示哪些广告。在此次更新之前，Google 允许你通过“网络与应用活动记录”设置来配置保存哪些历史搜索数据。现在，这已被拆分为两个设置：一个是“网络与应用活动记录”数据，另一个是默认开启的全新“搜索数据”设置。这意味着，如果你为了防止这家科技巨头存储你的数据而更改了“网络与应用活动记录”的保留设置，该更新将不再影响你对 Google 搜索服务的使用，因为它现在是一个独立的选项。