DuckDuckGo lets you filter out AI images: Here’s how to use the feature

DuckDuckGo now lets users filter out AI-generated images from search results. Here’s how to enable the feature for a more authentic search experience.

DuckDuckGo has introduced a new feature that allows users to filter out AI-generated images from search results. This is done to address users’ concerns about synthetic images overshadowing real content in search results. With this feature, users will be able to choose to remove AI-generated images and prioritise authentic images. With this move, the company gives readers control over what they see in search results, which is a response to users' feedback about the increased number of AI-generated images on major search platforms.

How the feature works

DuckDuckGo now lets you easily hide AI-generated images from your search results.

By Amit Rahi

For the past seven years, I have tracked consumer tech through constant shifts in hardware, platforms, and the way people actually use devices. Covering everything from budget gear to flagship hardware, I focus on what readers need to know, not on buzzwords or launch cycle hype. My expertise spans gaming laptops and chairs, high-performance PCs, gaming monitors, printers, smartwatches, earphones, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, tablets, and more, with a particular emphasis on how these products hold up in daily use. Reviews, explainers, buying guides, and news pieces all share the same goal: giving readers enough detail to make confident decisions without wading through fluff. Away from deadlines, I spend a lot of time gaming and watching films and anime, which naturally filters back into the work. Performance, comfort, display quality, and sound are judged the way players and viewers experience them, not just by lab numbers, which keeps my coverage grounded in real scenarios rather than just benchmarks.

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This new feature is integrated into the image search page and can also be used in DuckDuckGo’s browser. Once enabled, it instantly removes the AI images from the search result page. Here’s a quick guide on how you can use this feature:

1. Search for something on the DuckDuckGo search engine and switch to the Images tab.
2. On the toolbar menu above, click the “AI images” drop-down menu and select Hide.
3. This will instantly filter out the synthetic images and leave only authentic images to surf.

Users can also toggle the “Hide AI-Generated Images” filter from the search settings for a consistent experience. Alternatively, the user can go to “noai.duckduckgo.com” instead of the regular URL to instantly enable the AI images filter in search.

How does the AI image filtering work in DuckDuckGo?

DuckDuckGo’s AI image filter uses community-built open-source blocklists curated by projects such as uBlockOrigin and uBlacklist. This list includes websites and image sources widely known to distribute AI-generated images. When a user enables the AI filter, DuckDuckGo cross-references image results against these blocklists and removes the flagged images.

This feature is not foolproof; still, it greatly reduces the number of synthetic images from the search results. The company acknowledges that some AI-generated images may slip through this filter and that they are working to make this experience even better. DuckDuckGo hinted at future enhancements to its AI content filtering capabilities but did not announce any specific details.