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If I can turn it off as they claim I don't care too much other than it's development time wasted towards something I won't be using. They could have spent time

If I can turn it off as they claim I don't care too much other than it's development time wasted towards something I won't be using. They could have spent time fixing some of the sites that don't work correctly, implementing standards that are missing or just improving performance and memory usage. All of those things would be welcome as would some improvements on the mobile version it's not super usable I find it kind of irritating.

godelski 10mo ago
> If I can turn it off as they claim Why wouldn't you be able to turn it off? You can already do so with the current AI stuff and it is an open source browser so they couldn't stop you if they wanted to.
- simulator5g 10mo ago
  They’ll let you turn it off until people don’t care as much, then it will quietly become mandatory. Only some of the nerds will even care, since by then the panopticon will probably be fully constructed.
  - godelski 10mo ago
    I repeat >> it is an open source browser so they couldn't stop you if they wanted to. And there are already forks doing just this
- PaulKeeble 10mo ago
  You can turn the existing AI off if you learn the magic incantation for about:config, its not very usable. I would hope they will provide some proper switches in the settings menu for each of the AI features they intend, including the one for automatic tab grouping (which so far is total garbage and a complete waste of CPU).
- estimator7292 10mo ago
  The setting exists, but may or may not actually be respected based on user reports. Just like their auto-updates, you can turn the option off, but whether the feature is actually disabled is another question entirely. I don't trust Mozilla enough. For one, not giving UI options and hiding all the settings in about:config where non-technical users can't access is a shitty thing to do. Second, I have zero trust that the settings actually do anything since many don't. I don't believe for one moment that turning off their AI features actually 100% prevents that code from running.
  - brohee 10mo ago
    This is not a position based on anything factual. If you have evidence of a setting not being honoured it will be treated as a bug and fixed, there is no evidence of bad faith about that that I can recall. As for about:config, if you submit working patches to better expose options you care about I'm pretty sure they'll be considered, but every complex software has obscure options not exposed through a polished UI and frankly it's OK...
binary132 10mo ago
Why isn’t the framing “the user may choose to turn it ON”? Just chew on that.
- freehorse 10mo ago
  I think when they added some "AI feature" last days or so, there was a popup asking me if I want it or not. As far as I recall opting in seemed as easy as opting out.
- Fairburn 10mo ago
  Because it wouldn't work. What is the point of having some flagship feature among the fanfare to just leave it off by default? They start the race by never having gotten off of the starting line. I agree the framing is messed up.
  - binary132 10mo ago
    It seems simple enough to offer the user a button to activate the feature when they want it to run. If it has to be “given” to the user without activation, maybe it’s not as desirable as they are pretending it is. Maybe users just want a web browser for web browsing.

godelski 10mo ago

> If I can turn it off as they claim Why wouldn't you be able to turn it off? You can already do so with the current AI stuff and it is an open source browser so they couldn't stop you if they wanted to.

simulator5g 10mo ago
They’ll let you turn it off until people don’t care as much, then it will quietly become mandatory. Only some of the nerds will even care, since by then the panopticon will probably be fully constructed.
- godelski 10mo ago
  I repeat >> it is an open source browser so they couldn't stop you if they wanted to. And there are already forks doing just this
PaulKeeble 10mo ago
You can turn the existing AI off if you learn the magic incantation for about:config, its not very usable. I would hope they will provide some proper switches in the settings menu for each of the AI features they intend, including the one for automatic tab grouping (which so far is total garbage and a complete waste of CPU).
estimator7292 10mo ago
The setting exists, but may or may not actually be respected based on user reports. Just like their auto-updates, you can turn the option off, but whether the feature is actually disabled is another question entirely. I don't trust Mozilla enough. For one, not giving UI options and hiding all the settings in about:config where non-technical users can't access is a shitty thing to do. Second, I have zero trust that the settings actually do anything since many don't. I don't believe for one moment that turning off their AI features actually 100% prevents that code from running.
- brohee 10mo ago
  This is not a position based on anything factual. If you have evidence of a setting not being honoured it will be treated as a bug and fixed, there is no evidence of bad faith about that that I can recall. As for about:config, if you submit working patches to better expose options you care about I'm pretty sure they'll be considered, but every complex software has obscure options not exposed through a polished UI and frankly it's OK...

binary132 10mo ago

Why isn’t the framing “the user may choose to turn it ON”? Just chew on that.

freehorse 10mo ago
I think when they added some "AI feature" last days or so, there was a popup asking me if I want it or not. As far as I recall opting in seemed as easy as opting out.
Fairburn 10mo ago
Because it wouldn't work. What is the point of having some flagship feature among the fanfare to just leave it off by default? They start the race by never having gotten off of the starting line. I agree the framing is messed up.
- binary132 10mo ago
  It seems simple enough to offer the user a button to activate the feature when they want it to run. If it has to be “given” to the user without activation, maybe it’s not as desirable as they are pretending it is. Maybe users just want a web browser for web browsing.