this is so disturbing. beyond not installing one of these in the first place, is there anything we can do to stop companies from going down the dystopian route?

Don't buy, don't use, tell your non-techy family and friends about such worrysome products.

Companies will do whatever makes them money. If they see that AI-infused products perform worse (financially), they might come up with alternatives.

Spread FUD. I'm being serious. There's a subset of the population that avoids computer, Internet, or app usage due to data breaches and privacy violations. If this snowball of people mistrusting tech gets big enough companies will adapt by proudly labeling their products "No AI" like how food is labeled "non-GMO" or "gluten free."