Firefox Getting New Controls to Turn Off AI Features

[MacRumors]

The Firefox browser is gaining options to turn off AI enhancements, Mozilla said today. Firefox users who prefer to browse without artificial intelligence will be able to turn off several AI features that Mozilla has added over the last several months.

Here's what can be disabled:

• Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language.
• Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.
• AI-enhanced tab grouping, which suggests related tabs and group names.
• Link previews, which show key points before you open a link.
• AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including options like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Le Chat Mistral.

The AI features can be disabled entirely or individually, so users can pick and choose what they want to use. Users will be able to continue to opt out of AI features as they are added in the browser, and the main Block AI Enhancements toggle will disable all current and future AI features, including pop-ups or reminders to use existing or upcoming AI features.

Mozilla says that it wants to be able to continue to build AI options for those who want them, while also giving those who don't a way to disable them.

AI controls will be added in Firefox 148, which is set to start rolling out to users on February 24.

Article Link: Firefox Getting New Controls to Turn Off AI Features

 

[TheBeverage]

These are all available to be disabled in about:config, but it's a pain and requires more know-how than it should. Shameful that they forced this on their users for so long.

 

[CATiNTHESTORE]

Firefox has 8 ML models which is always active. And yes, you can turn it off by yourself in settings about:config

 

[jz0309]

The Firefox browser is gaining options to turn off AI enhancements, Mozilla said today.

SMART move Mozilla! Thank You!

 

[Keymaster]

This is good, and should be how things work...users should have the option of turning AI functions on or off individually. Some of it may be useful for some people and not others, and companies should respect that. Hopefully others follow this so that we can choose how much AI we get in our lives.

 

[minik]

Time to create a new configuration profile to turn off those features.

 

[fatTribble]

SMART move Mozilla! Thank You!

It does seem smart!
Why try to implement AI features such that they don’t bother some users.
Just let them disable.

 

[Starfia]

(What kind of a term is "block" for "don't enable"…?)

 

[jz0309]

It does seem smart!
Why try to implement AI features such that they don’t bother some users.
Just let them disable.

yea, I shouldn't have used the word "smart", "good" would have been a better choice

And, AI features should be disabled by default and opt-in imho

 

[dizmonk]

Firefox has 8 ML models which is always active. And yes, you can turn it off by yourself in settings about:config

I tried but do you think this will be more effective?

 

[TFrank2]

One of the only recent AI headlines that made me happy 🤣

 

[coolfactor]

(What kind of a term is "block" for "don't enable"…?)

If that's how the controls look, what a bizarre approach. Why have a positive control to block something, rather than an "Enable" control that can be turned off? Maybe they are targeting the emotional aspect associated with the anti-AI crowd?

 

[fatTribble]

And, AI features should be disabled by default and opt-in imho

Absolutely! I’m hoping there will be features I want to use. But I don’t want any AI being used automatically unless I enable it.

 

[einsteinbqat]

You still cannot disable the translation popup without going into about:config

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

One of the only recent AI headlines that made me happy 🤣

I heard MS is also talking about scaling back its copilot push in order to improve quality. It’s like they’re finally getting the message from the user base, or at least they are pretending to get it.

 

[ZipZilla]

Mozilla are to be commended for creating a decent, updated browser for free that (still) runs on macOS 10.15 Catalina.

 

[Jodeo]

You can't spell "anxiety" without "AI."

CEOs: "We need AI in everything or we'll lose out to the competition!!!"

Workerbees: "Right-o, boss! We'll get right on it..."

Users: "You've downgraded the user experience by giving my solutions without a problem to solve that get in the way of me deriving the value I once had from using your product."

FWIW, over the past few years I found myself increasingly criticizing Apple for doing stuff that Microsoft routinely did from the late 90s well into the current era. I tried to shake it off.

And then came Liquid Glass.
To Aero is human... 🤢

 

[Felix Lyran]

I'd really like the option of a browser that doesn't have a "turn off AI controls" option, because it doesn't have "AI controls" to begin with. Because it's a browser. It has tabs, history, bookmarks, and maybe a couple of plugins or extensions that the user considers useful and decides to install. It's bizarre that companies are embedding "AI" so unintelligently—into systems that don't need it, for users who don't want it, and all while feeling extremely impressed with themselves that they've achieved something. Who knows what that something is, but the sense of accomplishment doesn't at all line up with the reality of what's been accomplished.

 

[svish]

Great to see this option. Much needed. Don't want to use all the AI features. Having an option to turn certain ones is a welcome change.

 

[SilmarilFinder]

Although I use gemini, perplexity and chatgpt extensively for different purposes, I use them as separate applications, not meddling with what I actually do. I use them as a support rather them handling the job to them.

The “AI web browser” is a concept that I really don’t understand and see the benefit.

Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language.

Do we need an AI to do that? Safari and some other browsers doing this for years without an “AI”. Good feature but not something I use everyday. Even google translate has been doing this for years.

Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.

Who uses that? Sorry but I really don’t understand. Unless its a news website, why would you need a description under a photo? If this is a accessibility feature then it should be opt in rather than another reason to force “AI”.

• AI-enhanced tab grouping, which suggests related tabs and group names.

I don’t want my browser to change location of the tabs to its own mind. Why would this be any use of a normal user?

• Link previews, which show key points before you open a link.

again for my use case I don’t see the benefit. If I’m copying and pasting a link, it either shows the content (eg youtube thumbnail) or a short explanation of link and most of the time I edit the link description anyhow (eg when I add a link of a product that I want on onenote)

AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including options like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Le Chat Mistral.

I can see the benefit of this but I’m not comfortable letting yet another company to see what I’m doing on the internet and use it to sell more ads.

I’m sorry but to me all these features are solutions for a problem that doesn’t exist.

 

[whatnot]

the stupid translation option in the context menu made me throw things because it took rightclick + t spot from 'open in new tab'. I probably disabled everything translation related in about:config, because I haven't seen no pop-up since.

you can already disable most of it through settings, but I suppose lumping all this slop in one container is progress of sorts.

• Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.

what is 'accessibility description', or 'pdf page' for that matter? I used to be able to open pdf files - as in urls ending .pdf - in FF, but now it just prompts me to download first, maybe bc I no longer have Adobe? if I could copy images from pdfs like I used to, I might turn a blind eye on the rest of this nonsense, because Preview is not cutting it.