Maybe some of you are interested on filling out this survey.
It’s kinda telling, that there is no “Stop implementing AI” options, only how it could be used in a “responsible / open / transparent” way. So I guess they are way past that point? I used the free text fields to express my opinion.
That they get off the AI train and stop wasting their limited resources on this garbage.
I completed it and used the ‘other’ field on the first question to express that i don’t want any ai in mozilla.
Same, except I used wording line “optional and opt in.” I’m fine with others opting in, as long as I can choose not to.
Except that is very much the thin end of the wedge.
It starts “optional and opt-in”.
Then there’s an update and it has activated some AI feature “for you”. But you can opt out easily. They’ll even make it easy.
Then there’s another update and they’ve activated another AI feature “for you” … but this time it’s a pain to disable.
Then they sneak it in. Probably something that spies on you to feed some model or another. And this one might require deep technical skills to disable. This will be hidden behind another public AI release that they trumpet as the second coming of web browsing.
All the while their share declines because nobody wants this shit!
So let’s all just go use Chrome instead?
Or what?
I use a spin-off. Zen. There are several others with different focuses. Still the Firefox ecosystem, but Firefox with the stupid stuff gone.
I haven’t heard of Zen. I’ve heard of Librewolf, Waterfox, and Ice…cat? Ice-something. Probably not the most popular name right now.
Some say they eat away at Mozilla’s market share. I’m not sure that’s true — what do you think? I figure they all probably identify (user agent) as mozilla. So using them should benefit Mozilla when they go to look at market share or whatever. I just don’t wanna give any ground to Chrome.
I don’t care, personally, if they eat at Mozilla’s (minuscule) share. I use software for my purposes. If it doesn’t suit my purposes I switch to software that does.
Mozilla lost my trust with the Pocket fiasco. They’ve repeatedly since shown that they either do not care about or do not understand what I use a browser for. (Hint: it’s in the name “web browser”.) When I came across an alternative that worked, and that just as Mozilla started pushing AI crud into their product, I made the switch.
I owe nothing to Mozilla. They owe nothing to me. But I get to decide which browser I run, and if they want it to be theirs they have to make it something I want to run.
AI has it’s uses, like translate feature. Personally I would love for mozilla to stop pretending they are google and focus on their two existing projects they are known for. Optionally with some complimentary paid features if they abolutely need them.
The translate feature in Firefox cannot possibly be an LLM. It is instead some kind of “NMT” (Neural Machine Translation) thing called “Marian”. That’s the problem with using imprecise terms like “AI” since, with enough squinting an adding machine from the 18th century is “AI”.
Nobody’s browser should have a link to an LLM in their browser without full informed consent, period. And given Mozilla’s track record in injecting unwanted technologies (remember Pocket?) into their browser, I no longer have any confidence that they won’t inject LLM slop into their flagship.
Nobody claimed that translate was an LLM, there are uses for LLM and Pocket was used and loved by a lot of people, so it wasn’t unwanted.
I remain unconvinced that LLMs have any practical application given their massive costs.
Pocket was used and loved by a lot of people, sure, but it was forced upon everybody, even those who did not love it and did not want to use it, and, get this, couldn’t be rid of it until the noise got loud enough Mozilla finally added the ability to remove it. THIS is why I no longer trust Mozilla people. They’ve very clearly veered away from their original user-focused world.
So, Pocket alone made me mistrust Mozilla. Now let’s talk Looking Glass. Let’s talk all the AI crap they’re now shoving in without an opt-in and without an easy way to opt-out. Mozilla is no different, ethically, than any other Silly Con Valley company. Just without the profits.
For “What do you want to see from Mozilla in the future?” I put “Complete independance from Google.”
So I guess they are way past that point?
Yeah, probably. They’re making basically the same argument as the debate around adding DRM to Firefox. Back then the winning argument was, “If people can’t watch Netflix they’ll just uninstall Firefox and we can’t afford to lose any more users.” Just replace “watch Netflix” with “use AI”.
To stop being stupid and adding shit we don’t want… AI for example.
No AI.
That’s it.
No. AI.
It’s why I stopped using Firefox.
And switched to?
In my case Zen, but there are a lot of forks of Firefox with different focuses.
Different user but: LibreWolf
So still Firefox, kinda.
I told them that if they stripped out Ai and focused back on privacy and the open web they would win me back. And that they go down this AI nonsense at their own peril as a company.
