Is AI Block a cosmetic trick?

[Meem55]

Quote from the Block AI settings window: "Blocking means you won't see new or current AI enhancements in Firefox, or pop-ups about them".

This makes me very uneasy. Why? Because it states that we won't see any AI things. So it doesn't mean that we can block AI in Firefox, it just says we can disable certain AI things and won't see other things.
Meaning AI is very much in Firefox, we just don't notice it. That's not a block, it's just a cosmetic fix/trick 😞

[SarahSyna]

You're  probably right, yeah. There's no need for that kind of weasel wording unless they're hoping to be able to give people a false sense of security.

[stef]

Thanks for the question! The good news is that it's not just cosmetic, the AI models used to power the individual features are downloaded when you use them for the first time, but otherwise don't automatically download in the background.

If you have used any of the listed features in the past and you switch on the 'Block AI enhancements' toggle in the AI controls, any previously downloaded models will be deleted, opt-in prefs removed, and you'll automatically block new AI features from showing up in Firefox as well.

If you have never used any of the listed features in the past, toggling that switch will block entry points (ex: call outs to try the features) as well as prevent you from seeing in-product notifications about future AI features as well.