I strongly desire a global off switch for every generative AI feature. I do not use generative AI and I never will. I do not like it being forced into my face.

One example is that there is a button to "generate editable patterns using a simple text prompt" in the swatches panel that I can't remove. I will never use it and I don't want it there.

I am currently using version 29.8.10 because the unwanted generative AI features are more intrusive in version 30.7. See the two attached images for one example, again using the swatches panel. In version 30.7, the gen AI button has migrated closer to the active fill and stroke. Making it infinitely more likely I will accidentally click it.

I completely agree with the original poster.

I try out most of the new features introduced at Adobe MAX and elsewhere, and I adopt the ones I actually need. But in Acrobat, there is no way whatsoever to get rid of the garish pink-and-purple "Ask AI Assistant" button. And in Illustrator, if my cursor overlaps the Turntable button in the Properties panel by even one pixel, a huge tooltip appears and covers up the numeric fields.*1 (I design UIs for medical devices, and to me this looks close to a bug.)

As the original poster says, what matters most is that advanced users be able to customize.

*1 For the record: this happens on 30.7 with both "Show Tool Tips" and "Show Rich Tool Tips" turned off in Preferences > General, so it is not something the user can opt out of today.

I'm only interested in effectiveness. And I think the issues I raised are some long-standing ones along with newer ones that reflect direction of the company.

I don't care how you treat this post. I care only if Adobe makes a product I want to buy. And the trust has eroded over the last 10 years especially to a point where I'm reconsidering. I think many people also feel it's that serious. Again, do what you will regarding moderation of this post.

Yep, more reports is another way, but in a way this makes more bloat.
We agreed bloat is bad for the app, so I don’t think bloat is good for the data that intends to make the tool better :)
But I respect your point anyway, and I can totally agree with the approach. In some cases more entry points can help to attract more people and create enough noise and pressure. And that’s the goal.
And I’m surely agree on the huge tech and UX debt.

Yes, I did draw with it. I also opened the options by double-clicking. Nothing.

If the goal of consolidating and concentrating votes is an effective way to solve problems, I'm for it. But as I said, years going by without fixing makes me skeptical that this is a meaningful method to enact the change users are requesting.

I'd argue it just makes it easier to ignore one thread than fifty.

Perhaps the team should prioritize minimizing introducing new problems by tackling the existing ones. These tools have not needed new features in maybe ten years, but they have withered instead.

Live your life, do what you have to do. But I cannot be convinced this is effective. My patience is running out while I watch other design apps do what Photoshop and Illustrator can do without years going by pretending that these issues don't exist.

Speaking of Pencil — have you tried to actually draw with it? Double-click the tool icon to open the tool options dialog?

I’m with you about the customization and less bloat.
The way I personally treat requests and reports is to have less copies, because it makes less fragmentation and thus makes vote count more concentrated. Their inception dates matter little — some of the QOL things Ai recently got (the small things most of us care about) were requested 9 years ago or earlier, before UV. What matters I think is that when the team gets bandwidth to pick one up, it’s heavy enough to persuade those who decide to pick one up, and a solid story is there for them to agree it matters. Plus it’s important to see if the flow of votes, something that is visible from the inside.
That’s why I merge (and split occasionally), correct titles, add details, comments, cross-link...

Here’s 2 more:
— Centralized Notification History: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/49849377 (not solved with the hub they made at all)
— Warnings Popup Manager: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/40666039

The first link you posted is vague enough to cover this, sure. It's from 2017 which doesn't isnpire confidence.

The second link is definitely the same issue, from 2023 which also doesn't inspire much confidence.

And yes, the pencil blue dot doesn't go away, so it seems stuck. It could be the same thing.

I guess my "complaint" here is not the symptoms, but the root cause. Adding features without consideration to the implications they cause, letting them fester for 3–7 years is painful.

There are two related requests:
1. A more general Deactivate unused functions / tools / filters / plugins — https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/32612413
2. A more dedicated An ability to disable all generative tools and options, like Text to Vector Graphic, Generative Pattern... — https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/47462738
I think yours apply to both, really. The blue dot problem (Ai requires us to use a tool or a command or a function that has it to make it go away) is a separate problem I don’t recall anyone reporting, however a single report it being stuck exists: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447/suggestions/50453091 — is it the same problem?