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Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

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Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#651

Post by scriptsmith »

d3Xt3r wrote: post #644
scriptsmith wrote: post #31

If Chrome has the #optimization-guide-on-device-model and #prompt-api-for-gemini-nano flags enabled, either because it's part of some Origin Trial / Early Stable Release or something, then web pages will have access to the new Prompt API which allows any webpage to initiate the (one-time) download of the ~2.7 GiB CPU or ~4.0 GiB GPU model using LanguageModel.create() https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/prompt-api Wh…

So my understanding of that is that the download happens only when sites call the Prompt API right? Because my Chrome stable has been updated to v148 now, and I don't see any AI models in my user profile folder. My profile size is only 328 MB, with the Code Cache subfolder occupying the most space (135 MB).

In my understanding, yes. I wrote a blog post about some of the internals here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48028662

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#652

Post by dylan604 »

hackyhacky wrote: post #619
oaiey wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is changing the product significantly. I wanted/consented to a browser. Nothing more. Agreeable, nothing new with the browser vendor pushing plugins down our throat which are not browser core features, nevertheless not right.

> I wanted/consented to a browser. Nothing more. I agree. I want just a browser. No non-browser-related features, such as JavaScript, CSS, WebRTC, WebGPU, Wasm, etc. Nope, just browsing. Edit: /s, obviously

That's a dumb argument to make as all of those things are used to render the browsing experience. You can disagree with them being necessary or not, but they are part of the experience.

You'd be much better off arguing you wanted/consented to a browser, but you got 3 toolbars installed as well and a couple of extensions that report back every keystroke to their respective mothership.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#654

Post by b40d-48b2-979e »

radicalbyte wrote: post #562
Schiendelman wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think the energy cost to transfer has dropped by 10 X in eight years? Why?

Eight years ago my internet was using a current over a copper wire. Now it's light through glass. The latter is much more efficient especially over longer distances.

Eight years ago, your ISP was already on light over glass, they just didn't serve it that way to your house.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#655

Post by alliao »

crazygringo wrote: post #560

Framing this as needing "consent" is deeply misguided. It's as silly as claiming that Microsoft Word installed an English language spellcheck dictionary without your consent. It's just part of the software. You consented to installing the software and having it autoupdate. That covers it. Now we can argue whether or not it's an appropriate amount of disk space or bandwidth to use, but that's just a reasonable practic…

i think if google can show that they know what it does and able to contain it then sure, it's a tool they have power over. if not then I don't see how it is being contained by the terms

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#656

Post by antonvs »

crazygringo wrote: post #560

Framing this as needing "consent" is deeply misguided. It's as silly as claiming that Microsoft Word installed an English language spellcheck dictionary without your consent. It's just part of the software. You consented to installing the software and having it autoupdate. That covers it. Now we can argue whether or not it's an appropriate amount of disk space or bandwidth to use, but that's just a reasonable practic…

> You consented to installing the software and having it autoupdate.

You make a good case for much stronger laws and regulations on what such consent can legally allow.

> Framing it around consent is unnecessarily inflammatory and makes it harder to have a discussion, not easier.

Spoken like a Google shareholder. It’s wild to see this level of gaslighting being presented as some sort of reasonable position.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#660

Post by tredre3 »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #461

Talk about a nothing burger. "OOh they downloaded 4GB!" You mean 30 minutes of Netflix? The carbon emissions thing apparently isn't a big deal since the author says the browser's AI use is cloud based anyway, and offloading AI compute from the DC to the browser isn't really increasing carbon is it? Reads like another AI doomer trying to find something to get angry about.

Try to look outside your bubble. Millions of people still have monthly quotas on their internet plan, and 4GB can be a big chunk of it (possibly over all of it, in some cases).

Google should have asked.

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