8 ms·

What even is an "AI browser"? It's a browser, it's mainly supposed to render web pages / web apps. There is no obvious reason why it would need any AI features.

TheBigSalad 10mo ago
This is the equivalent of Blockbuster rejecting Netflix.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- christophilus 10mo ago
  Time will tell, but I doubt it.
- cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
  At the risk of becoming the infamous iPod and Dropbox posters, I really don't think so. My browser having an LLM directly integrated adds nothing for my use cases that couldn't be accomplished with a web service or dedicated tool/app. For me, an integrated LLM running concurrently with my browser just represents a whole lot of compute and/or network calls with little added value and I don't think that this is unusual.
  - brians 10mo ago
    Having something that read everything I read and could talk with me about it, help remember things and synthesize? That’s awesome. Follow links and check references.
    - cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
      This use case feels better served by a dedicated utility with a specialized UI rather than shoehorned into a browser. It'd fit the macOS services model (which adds items to context and application menus, e.g. "Research this…" when right-clicking a link or text selection) and could optionally also be summoned by the system app launcher (like Spotlight).
  - zamadatix 10mo ago
    Better yet, if an LLM does add value to the use cases why is it that I have one "integrated" LLM when editing a document in the webpage, another "integrated" LLM in the browser, and then an "integrated" LLM in the OS. If there is value to be had I want it to integrate with the different things on the system as they exist just like I do, not be shoehorned into whatever company abc decided to bundle with just their product(s) too.
    - cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
      Yep. I mention this in my other reply, but having the LLM be system-level (and preferably, user replaceable) and leveraged as needed by applications (and thus, not redundant) is clearly the best model. Apple is currently the closest to this, offering system level third party LLM integrations, but a Linux distribution would be the best positioned to achieve that goal to its fullest extent.
- bee_rider 10mo ago
  Blockbuster could have bought Netflix, stifled the idea, and then lost to… whatever, Vine or YouTube or something. These stories just look compelling and obvious in retrospect, when we can see how the dice landed.
christkv 10mo ago
A bored LLM that will constantly hit reload on hackernews hoping to see something new.
- icepush 10mo ago
  If they can perfect that feature, then users can be done away with once and for all.
- temp0826 10mo ago
  Why use a drinking bird pointed at your F5 key when data centers crammed full of GPUs (and a touch of global warming) will do?
high_na_euv 10mo ago
Translation? Image search? Live captions? Dubbing? Summary? Rewrite text better?
- cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
  Safari does most of this by leveraging system-level AI features, some of which are entirely local (and in turn, can be and do get used elsewhere throughout the system and native apps). This model makes a lot more sense to me than building the browser around an LLM.
  - freehorse 10mo ago
    Firefox uses local models for translation, summarisation and possibly other stuff. As it is not restricted on one platform, I guess that it has to use its own tools, while apple (or macos/ios focused software in general) can use system level APIs. But the logic I guess is the same.
- bastardoperator 10mo ago
  All those things we had before AI?
  - criddell 10mo ago
    Most of those things weren't very good before AI was applied. Translation specifically was pretty bad before Google applied machine learning methods to it around 2007 when it became very good almost overnight.
    - mort96 10mo ago
      Google Translate isn't what's meant when tech CEOs say "AI" in 2025.
      - johannes1234321 10mo ago
        What tech CEO says is "a text box with magic" Google translate fulfills that and there are ways to integrate with LLM if technology marketing is important. Unless it is nVidia's CEO, who wants to sell specific hardware, they mostly care about the buzz of the term, not a specific technology, though.
jmiskovic 10mo ago
A browser with current definition obviously doesn't "need" AI. And we also know all too well how it's going to turn out - they will both use the AI to push ads onto us and also collect and sell our personal data. However, a strong locally-executed AI would have potential to vastly improve our experience of web! So much work is done in browsers could be enhanced or automated with custom agents. You'd no longer need any browser extensions (which are privacy nightmare when the ownership secretly changes hands). Your agents could browse local shops for personalized gifts or discounts, you could set up very complex watches on classified ads. You could work around any lacking features of any website or a combination of several websites, to get exactly what you seek and to filter out anything that is noise to you. You would be able to seamlessly communicate with the Polish internet subculture, or with Gen Alpha, all without feeling the physical pain. With an AGI-level AI maybe even the Reddit could be made usable again. Of course this is all assuming that the web doesn't adapt to become even more closed and hostile.
- rstat1 10mo ago
  [flagged]
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- NothingAboutAny 10mo ago
  man not a single one of those examples sounds like something I'd need, or even need an AI agent to do. I keep seeing the ads for AI browsers and the only thing I can think about is the complete and utter lack of a use case, and your post only solidifies that further. not that I'm disagreeing with you per se, I'm sure some people have a workflow they can't automate easily and they need a more complicated and expensive puppateer.js to do it. I just dont know what the heck I'd use it for.
  - jmiskovic 10mo ago
    I find it very hard to believe that either every site you interact with works exactly as you want it to work, or that you have the time/capacity to adjust them all with custom extensions. I get that there are downsides but you don't see any upsides?
CamperBob2 10mo ago
It is really incredibly nice to be able to highlight a passage, right click on it, and select "Summarize" or "Explain this." That's all FireFox does at the moment. It's an option on the right-click menu. You can ignore it. If nobody told you the evil AI thingy was there, you would probably never notice it.
- account42 10mo ago
  It's a lot nicer to exercise your brain and maybe learn something.
  - CamperBob2 10mo ago
    If Luddism is your idea of "learning something," well... other sites beckon.
stronglikedan 10mo ago
Comet, for one
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
AnonC 10mo ago
Technically, a browser is a “user agent”, and it could be argued that some AI features (with privacy) can help in being a better user agent.
estimator7292 10mo ago
If someone tries to sell you an AI browser, tell them I've got some pictures of apes to sell

TheBigSalad 10mo ago

This is the equivalent of Blockbuster rejecting Netflix.

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
christophilus 10mo ago
Time will tell, but I doubt it.
cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
At the risk of becoming the infamous iPod and Dropbox posters, I really don't think so. My browser having an LLM directly integrated adds nothing for my use cases that couldn't be accomplished with a web service or dedicated tool/app. For me, an integrated LLM running concurrently with my browser just represents a whole lot of compute and/or network calls with little added value and I don't think that this is unusual.
- brians 10mo ago
  Having something that read everything I read and could talk with me about it, help remember things and synthesize? That’s awesome. Follow links and check references.
  - cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
    This use case feels better served by a dedicated utility with a specialized UI rather than shoehorned into a browser. It'd fit the macOS services model (which adds items to context and application menus, e.g. "Research this…" when right-clicking a link or text selection) and could optionally also be summoned by the system app launcher (like Spotlight).
- zamadatix 10mo ago
  Better yet, if an LLM does add value to the use cases why is it that I have one "integrated" LLM when editing a document in the webpage, another "integrated" LLM in the browser, and then an "integrated" LLM in the OS. If there is value to be had I want it to integrate with the different things on the system as they exist just like I do, not be shoehorned into whatever company abc decided to bundle with just their product(s) too.
  - cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
    Yep. I mention this in my other reply, but having the LLM be system-level (and preferably, user replaceable) and leveraged as needed by applications (and thus, not redundant) is clearly the best model. Apple is currently the closest to this, offering system level third party LLM integrations, but a Linux distribution would be the best positioned to achieve that goal to its fullest extent.
bee_rider 10mo ago
Blockbuster could have bought Netflix, stifled the idea, and then lost to… whatever, Vine or YouTube or something. These stories just look compelling and obvious in retrospect, when we can see how the dice landed.

christkv 10mo ago

A bored LLM that will constantly hit reload on hackernews hoping to see something new.

icepush 10mo ago
If they can perfect that feature, then users can be done away with once and for all.
temp0826 10mo ago
Why use a drinking bird pointed at your F5 key when data centers crammed full of GPUs (and a touch of global warming) will do?

high_na_euv 10mo ago

Translation? Image search? Live captions? Dubbing? Summary? Rewrite text better?

cosmic_cheese 10mo ago
Safari does most of this by leveraging system-level AI features, some of which are entirely local (and in turn, can be and do get used elsewhere throughout the system and native apps). This model makes a lot more sense to me than building the browser around an LLM.
- freehorse 10mo ago
  Firefox uses local models for translation, summarisation and possibly other stuff. As it is not restricted on one platform, I guess that it has to use its own tools, while apple (or macos/ios focused software in general) can use system level APIs. But the logic I guess is the same.
bastardoperator 10mo ago
All those things we had before AI?
- criddell 10mo ago
  Most of those things weren't very good before AI was applied. Translation specifically was pretty bad before Google applied machine learning methods to it around 2007 when it became very good almost overnight.
  - mort96 10mo ago
    Google Translate isn't what's meant when tech CEOs say "AI" in 2025.
    - johannes1234321 10mo ago
      What tech CEO says is "a text box with magic" Google translate fulfills that and there are ways to integrate with LLM if technology marketing is important. Unless it is nVidia's CEO, who wants to sell specific hardware, they mostly care about the buzz of the term, not a specific technology, though.

jmiskovic 10mo ago

A browser with current definition obviously doesn't "need" AI. And we also know all too well how it's going to turn out - they will both use the AI to push ads onto us and also collect and sell our personal data. However, a strong locally-executed AI would have potential to vastly improve our experience of web! So much work is done in browsers could be enhanced or automated with custom agents. You'd no longer need any browser extensions (which are privacy nightmare when the ownership secretly changes hands). Your agents could browse local shops for personalized gifts or discounts, you could set up very complex watches on classified ads. You could work around any lacking features of any website or a combination of several websites, to get exactly what you seek and to filter out anything that is noise to you. You would be able to seamlessly communicate with the Polish internet subculture, or with Gen Alpha, all without feeling the physical pain. With an AGI-level AI maybe even the Reddit could be made usable again. Of course this is all assuming that the web doesn't adapt to become even more closed and hostile.

rstat1 10mo ago
[flagged]
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
NothingAboutAny 10mo ago
man not a single one of those examples sounds like something I'd need, or even need an AI agent to do. I keep seeing the ads for AI browsers and the only thing I can think about is the complete and utter lack of a use case, and your post only solidifies that further. not that I'm disagreeing with you per se, I'm sure some people have a workflow they can't automate easily and they need a more complicated and expensive puppateer.js to do it. I just dont know what the heck I'd use it for.
- jmiskovic 10mo ago
  I find it very hard to believe that either every site you interact with works exactly as you want it to work, or that you have the time/capacity to adjust them all with custom extensions. I get that there are downsides but you don't see any upsides?

CamperBob2 10mo ago

It is really incredibly nice to be able to highlight a passage, right click on it, and select "Summarize" or "Explain this." That's all FireFox does at the moment. It's an option on the right-click menu. You can ignore it. If nobody told you the evil AI thingy was there, you would probably never notice it.

account42 10mo ago
It's a lot nicer to exercise your brain and maybe learn something.
- CamperBob2 10mo ago
  If Luddism is your idea of "learning something," well... other sites beckon.

stronglikedan 10mo ago

Comet, for one

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

AnonC 10mo ago

Technically, a browser is a “user agent”, and it could be argued that some AI features (with privacy) can help in being a better user agent.

estimator7292 10mo ago

If someone tries to sell you an AI browser, tell them I've got some pictures of apes to sell