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I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

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Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#731

Post by karmakurtisaani »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #670
xmcp123 wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s also worth noting that non AI investment has basically dried up, so anyone wanting that initial investment needs to use the buzzwords.

In the 90s I did a lot of AI research but we weren't allowed to call it AI because if you used that label your funding would instantly be cancelled. After this bubble pops we'll no doubt return to that situation. Sigh.

Conversely, if you're doing any mathematical research nowdays, you better find some AI angle to your work if you want to get funding.

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#732

Post by BearOso »

pseudalopex wrote: post #687
BearOso wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of money they get from Google is vastly more than it takes to hire a few dozen people full-time to develop a web browser and email program. People in the organization are trying to use what's left of the name recognition and all that money to benefit their own initiatives.

> The amount of money they get from Google is vastly more than it takes to hire a few dozen people full-time to develop a web browser and email program. You under estimated the work to develop a web browser. Vivaldi are 60 people.[1] They produce an unstable Chromium fork and email program. They couldn't commit to keep uBlock Origin working. [1] https://vivaldi.com/team/

That's a good example. I'm probably significantly underestimating the amount of people needed. $500M can hire a lot of $250k salaried engineers, though.

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#733

Post by kelvinjps10 »

thewebguyd wrote: post #671
kelvinjps10 wrote: post #635

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some phones with the lastest android, when you press the power button instead of showing you the power options, it opens google assistant.

Apple did the same shit, long press of the power button opens up Siri.

I know I used to have a phone that didn't do this and I used to make fun of my friends¡Phone because it would do this, then I got a new phone (android) and it did. Karma I guess, can you also disable it on ¡Phone?

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#734

Post by betamint »

AlienRobot wrote: post #574
noisy_boy wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can add features that help with browsing. E.g. they can steal the workspaces idea from Vivaldi. Or the side by side split window idea which is great for comparisons. Or adding a light weight mode which is somewhere between full fledged and text reader modes. There are so many improvements that can make the browsing experience significantly better. I wish they picked at least some of these things instead of stuff…

They can steal Workspaces from Vivaldi. Or they can steal vertical tabs from Vivaldi. Or they can steal the built-in RSS client form Vivaldi. Or they can steal the ability to save sessions from Vivaldi. Or they can steal the built-in notes from Vivaldi. Or they can steal the tab stacking from Vivaldi. Or they can steal the profile switching from Vivaldi. Honest question. What could Vivaldi "steal" from Firefox?

Containers.

Firefox has this ability to separate cookies etc into different partitions, and users can make use of this feature by opening tabs in different containers. Many times when I use profiles in other browsers what I really want is container tabs.

That combined with sideberry makes Firefox the superior one when I was checking if Vivaldi was worth switching to.

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#735

Post by BearOso »

glenstein wrote: post #546
BearOso wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of money they get from Google is vastly more than it takes to hire a few dozen people full-time to develop a web browser and email program. People in the organization are trying to use what's left of the name recognition and all that money to benefit their own initiatives.

What would you say is the most costly initiative that's siphoning money away from core browser development right now?

Good question. Looking at their expenses, though, it seems to be just a plethora of piddly donations. $1M here and there, and it adds up. That does fit with the lack of focus narrative.

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#736

Post by trenchpilgrim »

berkes wrote: post #721
trenchpilgrim wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to e.g. hook up Claude Code to any webpage would be killer for both web development and task automation.

I already do this via docker desktop MCPs in which I run a.o. Playwright¹. Zed and VS code can now drive a browser. E.g. to perform tasks like "run the site on a local server and verify that you see the counter increase when you click this new plus-button" ¹ https://hub.docker.com/mcp/server/playwright/overview

Thanks, I'll try this in Zed!

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#737

Post by mistrial9 »

everfree wrote: post #409

I use AI in Firefox all the time. Obviously it seems like I'm in a minority. * I summarize articles. * When I need more context to understand an article, I ask AI what I'm missing. * When I'm writing up something important, I ask AI to proofread it for me. * When I'm using productivity web apps, I ask AI to help me learn the features. * When I'm filling out convoluted forms, I ask AI what the writer could have possib…

you can make this choice but it must be your choice. AI-in-Browser must be one of the biggest spy-profilers in the history of tech.

Zero AI in Firefox - I will compile from source rather than tolerate AI in the browser.

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#738

Post by noisebuffer »

To create an AI that people will want to use, we need people to use it so we get better data, improve it, and learn how to control models. It’s a catch-22. I definitely don’t want AI tabs in Firefox but I can see why all this might be necessary because of massive potential for a superintelligence to solve problems or open new doors we didn’t know existed. But then we have to ask ourselves if these new pathways for humanity are so far removed from what humans can accomplish on their own, is there pride in a new revolution akin to the human derived pride in what we have accomplished on our own for the Industrial Revolution, for example, or even just petrol or nuclear power discovery?

Re: I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla

#739

Post by m-p-3 »

Personally I don't mind if the purpose is increased privacy and that the processing is done locally.

Some great examples are the local translation engine and I believe they also added or are in the process to add a small engine that can describe images and provide caption on-demand, which is a great step towards accessibility.

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