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!

[VyriaDurav]

Absolutely not. These tools are not artificial intelligence, they are plagiarism machines that waste ridiculous amounts of energy to give false or misleading information or to steal from artists and creators. Absolutely not. Such things run counter to the principles of Firefox and have no place here.

[RocketPunches]

I've been a loyal Firefox user since 1.5 and the Dell B130 that was my first laptop. I've gone so far as to argue with my IT department who are Google everything that I need Firefox on my work laptop instead of Chrome. This seems like a bad enough idea that I will search for a suitable alternative if this or similar proposals are advanced.

I don't think there's any good reason for adding AI hooks into the browser. The companies pushing these things have no respect for human beings at a baseline, and certainly no respect for the well-being and security of their users or people adjacent to them. In any way enabling that behavior seems at a baseline objectionable, and trusting anything required to more tightly integrate software made by people with an obvious and flagrant disregard for the well being of their peers seems like a massive and unnecessary security risk just so that someone can have ChatGPT or whatever summarize something they're too lazy to read.

Please do not go down this road.

[wlonk]

Well, time to stop using or recommending Firefox. Though I guess if you abandon and back out this destructive non-feature, I could keep being enthusiastic about Firefox.

[PatrickS]

Just stop it. I've been using Firefox since it was first released, what? 20 years ago? If you implement this AI crap, I'll be moving to another browser. No one needs this except spammers and conmen.

[dividrio]

Having used and enjoyed Firefox for several years, I can say that this would be a massively terrible idea. AI implementation would not serve any purpose except damaging your reputation and the quality of your product. It will not assist in anything. Please do not move forward with this.

[slcpgh]

Oh come on. You guys are supposed to be the better browser and have been my go-to since you first came on the scene. AI is a gimmick at this stage and a harmful and disastrous for the planet one at that. Which one of your CEOs decided to go all in on the tech bro AI snake oil, and how quickly can you fire them?

NO  to this. Just no all around.

[PhDe]

These repetitive answers, each time deliberately missing the point, give such a corporate impression. It reminds me so much of interactions with Google.

[Stick-Merchant]

I feel this isn't a good use of developer resources and time, as "AI" is more often used as a buzzword, and the timing and vagueness of this post implies that claiming Firefox has "AI integrations" is the purpose, and that there hasn't been a specific use case identified for AI. This almost definitely means that this will not improve utility in any significant way for the end users.

[SnigePippi]

Why?

I use Firefox to get away from all the AI! I'm sure many share my sentiment, and will opt to disabled it or block it completely. So isn't the experiment a waste of time?

[gkrnours]

This should be a plugin so you have clear number of who is interestsd (not me) without bothering normal user.

[IviaRelle]

Firefox should be focusing on what makes it better than other browsers, not trying to jump on a bandwagon that's already dying. LLMs are a solution in search of a problem, and the only people who use them are the people who don't understand how factually incorrect their responses are and who don't realize how bad they are for the environment with all the energy use and cooling needs especially on electric grids that aren't fully renewable. They are not the way of the future.

We don't need predictive text generators in our browsers. We need Firefox to focus on being Firefox.

[Draconic_Noble]

As it is currently used, AI is not worth the cost of maintaining it, no matter what its proponents say. Please do not encourage them with any level of integration into Firefox.

[PhilMcDuff]

Do not do this. Do not contribute to the massive power and water costs of this gimmick just because everyone else is doing it. Avoid getting caught up in the hype cycle for the love of god.

[Grave]

PLEASE DO NOT. The integration of AI into browsers is part of what has made me use Firefox as my main and frequently only browser. Please do not add AI to it.

[Mar-Pluviam]

Easy way to get me to use another browser.

[SophJones]

What happened Mozilla? Why are we hopping on bandwagons now? I just want a browser that's not spying on me. This is the opposite of your user privacy brand. 

[Hfpotier]

No

[srikinar]

No, I do not want you to add any AI into firefox.

[pir]

I don't need AI in my browser.
I don't want AI in my browser.

[Tabachinova]

Please don't, Firefox doesn't need AI, not having AI is the reason some people are migrating to it

[drachenkinder]

Please do not do this. AI causes environmental harm by its massive use of energy and water. It provides no  benefits what so ever. AI information is horribly unreliable and feeds on itself to spread more misinformation.  It steals writing and art without compensation to the original creators. It is a very bad, costly program. Do not fall for the hype of the people trying to sell you the tesla cybertruck of computer programs. All the companies which invested in this con job have spent millions and have seen little to no profit for it. Keep FIrefox, simple reliable and private. 

[rascalking]

Please, just don't.  This is not something that needs to be baked into a browser.  You don't need to do this.

[Andrikq]

I absolutely do not want AI involved in my internet browser at all. Unless there is an opt-out option I will not be updating my Firefox ever again.

[abmurrow]

Part of what makes Firefox great is the fact that it is often so focused on community, the open internet, accessibility, and ultimately, people. That is why adding AI tools to Firefox will be the biggest mistake Mozilla could possibly make.

The current LLM and AI tools on offer are not only not intelligent (they are merely really good at tricking people into thinking they are intelligent), but they are an actively harmful addition to any software suite. The use of LLM powered tools has caused huge companies to fall off of their climate pledges by wide margins. Powering AI tools is a hugely resource consumptive process that has practically no or very little actual benefit to end users. Every query of ChatGPT, for example, consumes nearly 3x more energy than a Google search and frequently gets huge facts wrong or rambles off into irrelevant tangents. Companies like those behind NaNoWriMo have recently come under fire for partnering with GAI companies because it makes the entire platform of advancing art, writers, and community ring hollow.

People are actively seeking alternatives to software that have bundled AI into their services and many are taking hard line stances against companies who use AI at all.

Also consider that the most popular GAI tools are still an unproven, speculative, and possibly illegal technology. Why illegal? Because they can only continue providing their seemingly magical services if they consume vast amounts of coppywritten works all the way from published novels to grassroots blogs. How can GAI write things in the style of modern writers? That's because the models have consumed all of those writers work and are now using it to spit out dirty limericks in their style. Several groups are putting together lawsuits aimed at AI companies because of this blatant and repeated disregard of copyright.

I like what Firefox and Mozilla does for the most part, but if AI is going to be a major part of their products I and many others will be forced to seek alternatives elsewhere.

In case anyone on the board ends up reading this, consider that you will appeal to customers by remaining true to the business that has made Mozilla a successful company in the past, not by jumping on unproven, dangerous trends that, if they fail, you won't be able to come back from without looking like a bunch of money grubbing chumps. Look at how crypto currency has earned a reputation of being scammy, shady, and unhinged. Only a few years ago, people thought that was the future and now many of the biggest crytpo companies are getting sued into the ground for malpractice. It is my belief that GAI is next once more people realize how this technology works.

[jfo]

Absolutely not okay. I used Firefox because it offers better security and at least a nod to ethical practices - this type of integration of AI goes against both.

[adelebuck]

No, I don't want the plagiarism machine baked directly into anything, let alone a browser I use every day.

[brambleclaw33]

Deeply deeply opposed to any AI integration in firefox. Others have said it much more eloquantly than I will, but there is no ethical Ai currently in existence. They scrape data from users who have not consented to have their work included in AI model 'learning,' the are enviromentally a disaster as they use *far* more energy than would be acceptable (similar to blockchain currency mining), and none of these issues have been addressed by the company. Whoever is running this forum simply asks "what model would be acceptable" and doesn't take the feedback that the answer is 'no model is acceptable." Additionally, Ai does nothing that a human cannot and does not do better. the amount of straight lies that are generated by Ai systems makes it functionally useless without a human fact checker, and if I have to do that i may as well have done the work myself in the first place.

No to ai.

[Sintanity]

Why do companies insist on integrating this f***ing garbage??? Who among you users asked for this ?? The people who want it already use these services outside of browser integrated BS like this, and those who DON'T want it likely switched to Firefox to AVOID **bleep** like this. Are you really willing to throw away the goodwill of a huge chunk of people that use Firefox just to implement the shiny new complicated stealing machine into every browser??

What is with companies' obsession with this unethical crap. If people want to integrate this LLM trash let them make an extension that they can implement by choice instead of adding it by default to every browser installation, Regardless of if someone needs to manually activate it. It's antithetical to what I had known Firefox to be about and will immediately stop recommending people switch to this browser over Chrome.

[kvneho]

Would appreciate not proceeding this further please.

[LiterallyButter]

Please remove this. Noone asked for this, extensions exist. Do better, Mozilla, you're supposed to be some of the good guys, but turns out you're just another corporation. Get your foundation some members.

[Lizard]

I can just uninstall Mozilla Firefox and find another browser who isn’t implementing AI garbage. Not really looking to be complicit in both ip theft and climate change. 😕

[ProfessorMaple]

If firefox starts incorporating AI into the browser, even optionally, I will likely be taking my bookmarks and researching what browser I will be using in the future.

[greatpooblydoo]

Please create forks with and without AI so the community can vote with it's feet. Personally will not stay with ff, which is my favorite browser despite everything, if I am forced to adopt AI. I use it on Linux, Android and Windows, and will absolutely abandon ff if it adopts, adapts to or includes AI. AI should be either a hard fork or only be available as an extension you have to download separately.

[GerMorFor]

This is a bad idea. As of August, Firefox has 2.74% of the browser market share, and honestly, it's because it fills the niche for a browser for people that wanted to have extensions, to block ads, better privacy, not the Chromium engine and as of late, no AI. And honestly, if in the end I have to deal with AI in which has been my browser to this day even if it was niche, why just not use the majoritary browser at this point?

These so called "AI features" is unnecessary in a browser, and leaving aside all of the security and ethic implications that already have been pointed out several times on this thread, it gives the sensation that the current management of the project hopes to hop on the AI hype-train for funding/investment, but shows a lack of awareness of your userbase preferences and the role your product fulfills in the market.

Sadly, seeing how Mozilla staff hasn't answered most of the negative comments but nearly all of the positives gives a pretty good idea already of how it's gonna go, though.

[Mark42]

I've been using Firefox almost as long as it's existed, and this would lead me to immediately uninstall it. So-called "AI" is the latest scam fad from the same folks who just fled from promoting NFTs, crypto, the metaverse, etc., etc. It may have genuine use cases someday, but currently it is just an engine for stealing work, destroying the environment, and turning out garbage. Please, abandon this misbegotten project.

[Raventazmily]

Hi, I specifically switched to Mozilla last year to avoid ai integration. Please don't go forward with this.

[angusm]

This is, in my view, an inappropriate step to take. Generative "AI" has been widely and, in my view, correctly criticized for multiple reasons: factual unreliability, high environmental costs, dependence on illegal or unethical acquisition of training data, embedded bias, and a general corrosive effect on standards of creativity and accuracy. For Firefox to provide privileged access to so-called "AI" tools not only distracts the development team from providing and supporting more useful features, but also suggests that Mozilla tacitly supports this largely harmful technology.

This is the wrong way for Firefox to go. Please don't do it.

[eroivas]

Absolutely not. Just stop it.

[Magess]

Did any users ask for this or did a product manager experience some FOMO.

GenAI is unethical from the outset, unreliable in application, and unprofitable at the end of the day. Might as well integrate NFTs.

[Vaultedvagabond]

Please dont. Ai is so bad for the environment and is based on stealing. I use firefoc because its more ethical and with less bull**bleep** than chrome. Please dont ad highly unethical bull**bleep** to firefox