We’re looking at how we can use local, on-device AI models -- i.e., more private -- to enhance your browsing experience further. One feature we’re starting with next quarter is AI-generated alt-text for images inserted into PDFs, which makes it more accessible to visually impaired users and people with learning disabilities. The alt text is then processed on your device and saved locally instead of cloud services, ensuring that enhancements like these are done with your privacy in mind.

IMO if everything’s going to have AI ham fisted into it, this is probably the least shitty way to do so. With Firefox being open source, the code can also be audited to ensure they’re actually keeping their word about it being local-only.

Focus on "local". Mozilla is working since a while on that.

I tried one of their test builds. Seems like the AI part just means the browser can integrate with llamafile (Mozilla’s open source solution for running open source llm’s with just one file on any platform)

They are implementing AI how it should be.

The term is so overused and abused that I'm not clear what they're even promising. Are they localizing a LLM? Are they providing some kind of very fancy macroing? Are they linking up with ChatGPT somehow or integrating with Co-pilot? There's no way to tell from the verbage.

And that's not even really Mozilla's fault. It's just how the term AI can mean anything from "overhyped javascript" to "multi-billion dollar datacenter full of fake Scarlett Johansson voice patterns".

Its honestly the only reason i use brave and edge over Firefox. Can fully commit to FF now.

Maybe they should, but focusing on adding new features endlessly is how we ended up with this state of internet browsers. The most complex app running on a desktop are too big, it's basically impossible to create a new one. (Yes you can fork but that's just adding toppings to ice cream). The browser war ends only one way.

If we break up the do-everything application into significant parts then a healthy "war" can exist. Why does a browser need to play video, you already have an app for that.

I do not know why browser makers like Opera or Brave(and now apparently Firefox) is going hey ho over AI. I don't see a proper benefit of integration of local AI for most people as of now.

As for vertical tabs, Waterfox got it just now. It is basically a fork of Tree Style Tabs and very basically implemented. I am honestly happy with TST on Firefox and while a native integration might be a bit faster(my browser takes just that few extra seconds to load the right TST panel on my slow laptop), it'll likely be feature incomplete when compared to TST.

They are probably extensions, just like pip, pocket, screenshot upload, languages, search engines, themes, etc.

Shipped by default, handled like extensions internally but not exposed to the user. You see it in the extension*.json files in your profile folder.

We need modular browsers. It is hard for Mozilla to keep the track to the W3C and all the nonstandard stuff that Google, Microsoft and Apple add to their browsers. If those elements were modules, it would be easier for people to collaborate and for Google and Microsoft to be obligated to add support for other browsers.

There's AI and there's AI. I really like that Firefox has local models for translating content. Them adding AI that describes images for visually impaired people is pretty cool.

I've been using it for at least a decade now and haven't encountered any of the issues you mention.

slow, choppy, drains battery

Sounds like you don't have an adblocker.

Idk, it seems to work fine on my old, crappy Moto G, and it also seems to work fine so far on my new Pixel 8 (just bought it recently).

Maybe Chrome is a little faster, idk, I don't use it much, but Firefox is completely fine.

Then again, maybe my standards are lower. I just want it to browse the web, and it does that pretty well. The ad-blocker is an absolutely killer feature which is why I don't use Chrome, so maybe I'm willing to put up with worse performance. But it seems plenty smooth to me.

Isn't that no. the exact attitude a lot of boomers have for technology? Look where that got them.