Share your feedback on the AI services experiment in Nightly

[asafko]

Hi folks, 

In the next few days, we will start the Nightly experiment which provides easy access to AI services from the sidebar. This functionality is entirely optional, and it’s there to see if it’s a helpful addition to Firefox. It is not built into any core functionality and needs to be turned on by you to see it. 

If you want to try the experiment, activate it via Nightly Settings > Firefox Labs (please see full instructions here). 

We’d love to hear your feedback once you try out the feature, and we’re open to all your ideas and thoughts, whether it’s small tweaks to the current experience or big, creative suggestions that could boost your productivity and make accessing your favorite tools and services in Firefox even easier.

Thanks so much for helping us improve Firefox!

[hadley]

Yay, more AI slop.

about:config, set browser.ml.chat.enabled to false for anyone else who doesn't want the "plagiaraism as a service" engine embedded into their browser.

[McBoat]

It's great - on desktop I wish it would immediately set focus to the chatbot prompt whenever I open the sidebar. Keyboard shortcuts are also appreciated.

[umno]

I literally made a connect account after I got Update 130. I simply do not want any generative AI in my supposedly "privacy-focused" browser at all, actually. Not even if it is just a built-in way to access chatbots. You keep saying "your data won't be saved by Mozilla" but what about all the data the LLMs have scraped? Doesn't that count?

[ricspce]

I really like the recent implementation of the chatbot. I would recommend creating a direct shortcut to AI resources in the toolbar, so that when you hover the mouse it shows options similar to what appears when you select text, but here the whole page would be taken into account.
It would be nice to introduce the organization of several open tabs with one click, as well as adding the shortcut to perplexity as a search engine.

[ggdupont]

any chance to add perplexity.ai in the list of LLMs?
any opportunity to add local model like a Llama3.1 with gpt4all?

[nokko]

Firefox Team, please remove any features that encourage the pillaging of the Web from your product, including this “AI Services Experiment.”

Before 2020, people who published creative work on the Web did so knowing that it was publicly accessible — that’s the point of the Web — and that it would be impractical, if not impossible, to track down people ripping off their work to make T-Shirts on Redbubble, print-on-demand Amazon books, and highly-upvoted Reddit reposts. The risk of getting taken for a ride by an anonymous and unprincipled scraper was small and most people wouldn’t bother trying to rip small creators’ stuff.

Then came the GPT-3 project and a raft of other LLMs. GPT-3 itself was trained on Common Crawl, WebText2, and Wikipedia, data from the open web. Billions of words’ worth of scraped text was put into the model while none of the original authors had given OpenAI express permission to train their stochastic parrot on their work. They couldn’t have given permission, as there was no widespread awareness of the technology.

99% of the LLM projects come about just like GPT-3. They rely on ingesting enormous quantities of data from the open web to train their models, give nothing back to the original authors, and occasionally make a tidy profit from the venture.

From the Mozilla Manifesto:

---

2. The internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.
5. Individuals must have the ability to shape the internet and their own experiences on the internet.
10. Magnifying the public benefit aspects of the internet is an important goal, worthy of time, attention and commitment.

---

We agree that the Internet is a global public resource that benefits humanity. LLMs trained on scraped data are an abuse of that resource without the consent of its users. In the feature as-shipped, you include the option to use one of ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, HuggingChat, or Le Chat Mistral LLMs. All of these models use publicly-available data. Now, many organizations dodge questions about how they source their data, because none of them ask for permission from the authors of the work they scrape.

The law is not settled on whether this is legal, but it’s obviously immoral. These models do not serve the public benefit and serve to undermine individuals’ ability to shape the Internet. By including this feature, you are encouraging the pillaging of the Open Web.

I am a longtime Firefox user and made this account to comment on this issue, that’s how much this means to me. I hope you see the raft of negative feedback on this matter and change your direction accordingly.

[llliiimmmeee]

Hi! I love this feature. It's insanely helpful. Things I think could be improved:

• ChatGPT, which I've been using, starts a new chat every time I use the button that appears when you highlight text. I would prefer if there was a toggle to change this behavior.
• Although a complete overhaul, I think it would be nice to have an option for people with OpenAI API keys to use a more firefox-like user interface.
• I would prefer if I could add my own custom prompts to the highlight menu from preferences.
• I think that a button to minimize the chat until I press a sparkles button next to Firefox View would be amazing.

Here are some things I hope you keep the same:

• Opt-in rather than opt-out.
• Using the sidebar rather than opening a new tab.
• The option to keep it in the context menu rather than when I highlight text.
• The variety of different chatbots (I hope that this will expand to allow more healthy competition to Open(Closed)AI!)

[timbro]

the gemini ai tab is using the wrong google account and wont let me switch it

[Andreslav]

Hello everyone

I liked this feature, in particular, the buttons that appear when you select text.

It is necessary to provide for cases when users use plug-ins (1) with similar pop-up windows. It may be necessary to provide developers with an API to add their icon near the cursor, but for Firefox to decide where it will be displayed.

You can also add the option to disable this pop-up window to the AI settings.

(I haven't read all the messages, so I don't know if it was written about earlier. I'm sorry).

[Unrealgeek24]

Hey, quick suggestion if an AI sidebar ever makes it into an official release of Firefox. For me, it would be helpful to be able to completely turn it off, as other browsers like Edge give you a hard time when trying to turn it off. I personally never use AI, so having a sidebar of some sort taking up space for no reason would be counter intuitive to me. It would be nice and helpful to know that you won't do what Edge did and shove AI down my throat. Note: I'm talking about an official release, I know that right now this sidebar is only an experimental feature and can be turned off or on at any time.

[Starlightwars]

It's already known that these generative "AIs" use massive and detrimental energy usage, the cooling systems also use gallons of water per prompt leading to mass evaporation!
all for a crappy chat-bot
it's just not worth it.

[wutongtaiwan]

AI features should be turned off by default and opted in by the user.

[ariasuni]

Also I really found the ChatGPT is bull**bleep** research paper interesting:

---

We argue that at minimum, the outputs of LLMs like ChatGPT are soft bull**bleep**: bull**bleep**–that is, speech or text produced without concern for its truth–that is produced without any intent to mislead the audience about the utterer’s attitude towards truth. We also suggest, more controversially, that ChatGPT may indeed produce hard bull**bleep**: if we view it as having intentions (for example, in virtue of how it is designed), then the fact that it is designed to give the impression of concern for truth qualifies it as attempting to mislead the audience about its aims, goals, or agenda.

[tilwiti]

😳

[lackey]

rip sweet prince 💔 

[Dandelion44]

firefox just follows what's trend on the internet instead of actually making useful update. What's next update, skibidi in firefox? because it's current trend

[tfunken]

Just no!

[Bersl]

• Never try turning it on by default.
• Never prompt me to turn it on.
• If turned off, leave absolutely no trace elsewhere in the UI.

My continued and continuous use of Firefox, which dates back to building from source before the software was even called "Firefox", depends strongly on never being reminded that this is a thing that exists, and I do not recommend pushing your luck any further than you've already done. I already terminated financial support over the fact that you're even wasting resources on this particular hype bubble (and will consider re-instating it if I feel that the madness has stopped), and I'm asking you with all the politeness I can muster not to gamble more aggressively or passive-aggressively with my tolerance in this matter.

Thank you.

[mariduv]

Yeah, this sucks.  People who want this could already have used extensions, but Firefox integrating this even as a lab, and letting one guy out here carry water for it, for months, is yet another move that undermines trust in Mozilla.  Someone could have been working on bug fixes or features that don't confidently misinform children.

[frenshape]

Please, no more AI chatbot stuff. I do not want this in my browser.

[karakara]

I am vehemently opposed to a "feature" of this nature in Firefox. Please, if you care about the users of Firefox at all. Drop this immediately.

[Cipscis]

I'm incredibly disappointed that this feature has been added to Firefox. I hope it will be removed immediately in the next build, and that Mozilla won't go down this route again.

One of the reasons I changed my primary browser to Firefox is that its major competitors available on Windows - Chrome and Edge, owned by Google and Microsoft - were going all-in on LLM-style "AI" en**bleep**tification. I'm certain I'm far from the only Firefox user who can say this.

Other users have already patiently explained the problems with features such as this. From the complete lack of respect for users' privacy that comes with using models that scraped their learning data without permission, to the complete lack of ethical concern that comes with shipping a feature that will undoubtedly lie to your users. This is a bad idea, both as a feature in general and in terms of the effect it will likely have on Mozilla's reputation as a trusted and privacy respecting alternative to other major browsers. Being able to disable it is not enough, this feature should not be shipped with Firefox.

[isopod]

I'd be very interested to know in what way Mozilla expects people to find this useful.

[mcc]

(The comment you are currently reading was posted by accident. If the moderators can delete it, they should.)

[PrismLizard]

-1. I am vehemently opposed to the addition of any form of LLM or chat bot in Firefox.

The current implementation raises several major concerns.

1. There is zero information about the privacy implications of using a third-party service. The omission of a privacy statement is a show-stopping red flag.
2. The way this is built severely limits user choice. Among other issues, you cannot choose to use the chat bot in a container dedicated to its use.
3. Because this runs as a privileged feature of the browser, it's difficult (if not impossible) to examine what requests and data are being sent. You are asking users to trust that nothing shady is going on without giving them the means to verify.

The recent update that adds weather information to Firefox already demonstrates that Mozilla no longer can be trusted to keep my personal information private. Sharing my location with a third party without my explicit consent has already broken my trust. If an LLM has privileged access in the browser, especially an LLM operated by a corporation with a profit motive, then there is nothing stopping them from stealing and using my information aside from easily-broken promises.

If this experiment is continued, I will switch to another browser that actually provides the level of privacy and security that Firefox was once known for. I am not comfortable with it being optional; there is already precedent for new options being enabled without user consent. I want the functionality completely stripped from the browser. I want Mozilla to go back to Firefox's roots: A minimal web browser that users can customize with extensions.

[mgztUcWsVXZNptW]

Many people have made it clear AI should never be added to Firefox, and I want to add my two cents: I believe anyone who works for Firefox / Mozilla in any capacity that believes AI belongs in Firefox (or any Mozilla product) should resign immediately. The history of Firefox is all about privacy and that's why many people continue to use it. AI is not private and should never exist. If AI is integrated any further, I expect Firefox to lose tons of users and their respective donations.

As a website owner, I believe AI should never exist and all the data that any models has collected has been collected illegally.

[ephemeris]

The environmental effects of "AI services" content is appalling - it's cryptocurrency all over again, but worse. Mozilla's effort on this feature in Firefox is profoundly depressing. Please stop.

[doodlemancy]

So-called "AI" technology is unreliable, wasteful, and unethically built on the stolen work of smart, experienced and creative humans who never consented. It does not, and can not ever, do what it claims to do, other than give overpaid sentient office chairs a reason to lay off humans from their jobs and then re-hire them as contractors later. I don't care if it's optional. I don't care if I can turn it off or ignore it. AI is an absolute no-go. The very fact that you are treating this garbage as if it is worth any legitimate or serious interest outside the realm of legitimized corporate fraud is a testament to how far Mozilla has fallen in recent years. It's Herbalife for mediocre tech bros, and you should be ashamed to be associated with any of it.

I've ushered many people away from crappier browsers to Firefox over the years. I've also been been glad to financially support Mozilla in the past, most recently through paying for Mozilla VPN. That will end if you decide to engage with this grifter nonsense. End of discussion. You will not see another dollar or a single word of support from me ever again if AI integration makes it out of the nightly build. 👎

P.S. Don't play around and pretend that "spellcheck is actually AI" or whatever. You know exactly what people are calling you out for here. You're just trying to see what you can get away with. It's pathetic, it's transparent, and it won't absolve you of responsibility.

[Rangal]

Yeah this sucks lmfao

[Shadlock0133]

don't waste time with AI gimmick that's gonna run out in ~2 years, just like nfts and blockchain before. AI is objectively bad at most tasks, bad for environment, bad for artists and writers and other creative folks, and it's gonna be bad marketing when it flops.

[BlazeHedgehog]

I am of the hard "no, please no" camp on this one. I am increasingly tired of tech companies getting spooked by the idea that they're being "left behind" in the latest and greatest snake oil campaign. Just like how crypto had "legitimate use cases" people are saying AI has "legitimate use cases" but making reading comprehension worse and distributing misinformation is not something I'd particularly like in my web browser.

Much like how Firefox has pushed what I would consider industry-leading privacy features, and a dedication to an open and robust addon platform, I would like it if Firefox did the truly smart thing and shunned AI integration altogether. This garbage is already going to be built into Windows at the operating system level eventually anyway, so why bother to overflow the dumpster with two layers of it?

Just say no to AI.

[Osmose]

As a Firefox user for 20 years and a Mozilla employee for 7 years, I strongly oppose the inclusion of these AI services into Firefox and will not use them. LLMs by design have ethical and environmental issues that using open source models or models running on device cannot fix.

[AqueousAblution]

Others have already made much more verbose and thoughtful arguments against the inclusion of AI in Firefox, so I'll just say this:

This whole thing stinks of trend-chasing and Kool-Aid-drinking. Firefox is one of the few good browser left, please don't ruin it. I don't want to have to move to yet another browser after having ditched Chrome for its BS, but I will if this makes it into a stable release of FF.

[novameow]

Ignoring the fact that this type of AI will never be useful for anyone, and that very few people actually want to use it, especially not firefox's primary userbase, do you earnestly think that it is a good business decision to invest in an economic bubble that is on the verge of popping? OpenAI is currently considering raising their prices, that should be all the evidence you need that this is, at the very least, a terrible idea.

[MozillaWhyAI]

Please for the love of god no why would AI even be desired, are all your posts in this thread just AI hallucinations?

[grumpy-]

no thank you, please stop making firefox worse. it's barely the last good web browser and the last thing we need is lake boiling liar machines to take it off that crumbling podium.

[SWTZR]

Please do not add AI services to Firefox. They have a clear track record of being scraped without permission, ignoring robots.txt, actively circumventing IP blocks and hallucinating dangerously wrong information. This is not a thing to be endorsing.

[tyreforhyred]

i do not and will not use AI and the continued pushing for a provably worse source of information is a waste of everyone's time and energy.

[hewhoispale]

Bringing this AI nonsense to Firefox is actively driving me to seek another browser to use instead. If I wanted to use a browser made by an ad company that was cramming AI slop into the "experience", I'd still be using Chrome.

[jdarkside]

Please don't do this. People use Firefox because it's one of the only alternatives to the awful and violating chrome sphere, and embracing AI grifting nonsense and the inherent lack of care this technology has for the work of others is just showing everyone you have no idea what your actual user base uses your browser for. You're basically doing the sort of stuff Google does that people who use your browser want to escape.