@firefoxwebdevs "AI is changing the web, and people want very different things from it. We’ve heard from many who want nothing to do with AI. We’ve also heard from others who want AI tools that are genuinely useful."

Have you? Because I've literally only heard the former. See e.g. virtually every one of the 966 comments on https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/building-ai-the-firefox-way-shaping-what-s-next-together/td-p/109922

@raymaccarthy about:config isn't intended to be for user settings. That's why we've created a dedicated AI controls page, and we're the first to do so.

@firefoxwebdevs

credit where credit is due

I'm still going to use Librewolf as trust on telemetry and ad-partnerships is not yet restored

@mkj I don't know the answer to this off the top of my head, but I'll find out and get back to you.

@firefoxwebdevs This is FANTASTIC! Thank you guys for listening to feedback!

@firefoxwebdevs
You are missing the point!

The features should not exist! So then no need for a master switch in the main settings.

Firefox has got so broken it needs loads of settings changed in About.config and even then is LESS USEABLE than 10 or 15 years ago.

I've been using Websites since 1994. Mosaic, Netscape, Firefox.

Of course I've used most of the others.

@firefoxwebdevs so i "re-enable" stuff I want after "blocking"?

re-enable calls for "disable" as the other part.

What that "block" does is "set default to disable" and "disable all" that we all know from the law-compliant cookie-banners.

Or rather: "make AI opt-in".

Suggestion that does not feel manipulative:

Button [disable all] ⇒ disables all AI options.

Added Option: [enable future AI features by default] ← gets disabled alongside the individual options when clicking [disable all].

@ArneBab it doesn't just disable all existing feature, it also auto-disables future AI features, or 'blocks' them from even appearing in the UI.

@firefoxwebdevs Too little. Too late.

@mike @firefoxwebdevs "AI is changing the web" is also certainly one way of describing the unending tide of SEO-optimized slop coating every surface that's made using the web as a source of information and knowledge virtually impossible.

@alahmnat @firefoxwebdevs Precisely.

@firefoxwebdevs That's awesome, but honestly that feature should have landed months ago. It's sad that it took so long to deliver such a 'simple' feature — it eroded trust needlessly

I understand it's hard to ship stuff, but we are talking about a toggle in preferences, so it was really frustrating not to see this shipped earlier.

Also, is that 'scare screen' really necessary? It's the same kind of trick we're always complaining about with FAANG products…

@mkj @firefoxwebdevs policy example:

{
"policies": {
"DisableFirefoxStudies": true,
"DisableTelemetry": true,
"DontCheckDefaultBrowser": true,
"FirefoxHome": {
"SponsoredStories": false,
"SponsoredTopSites": false,
"Stories": false
},
"GenerativeAI": {
"Enabled": false
},
"SearchEngines": {
"Remove": [
"Perplexity"
]
}
}
}

@firefoxwebdevs that’s what I mean with

[ ] enable future features by default.

and I’m writing my impression as feedback and this suggestion, because my reaction to the new block option was visceral.

Just seeing the workflow of enabling the block evoked the strong feeling that I’m being pulled by the nose into "do you really want to block? Why not enable just this one feature" (as drug dealers do) instead of my choice being respected.

And that does not match my usual feeling towards Firefox.

@firefoxwebdevs love it! Its a refreshing alternative to Edge's "shove Copilot down users thought at every opportunity" switch, which I think has only one setting

@firefoxwebdevs that being said, I actually love having local translation built into thr browser. It seems like the perfect use case for small language models that can be run on most laptops / desktop pcs today. Don't see a need to have the default setting to be off for that

@raymaccarthy @firefoxwebdevs You have never needed to use about:config. You can still quite happily browse the web using Firefox without going into about:config.

@firefoxwebdevs what's about mozconfig.cfg build option?

@firefoxwebdevs
Awesome! It seems like the controls are able to be customized.

Its great that Firefox is listening to users. Though the blog seems to have an error on my end, its possible its only on my machine. Its possible that some link is broken

@ArneBab @firefoxwebdevs

some people really like those other features though. Translation is one of our most requested features ever, and we couldn't implement prior to local AI. We weren't going to ship your web pages to some web service so they could see what you browse. But to other folks "AI is AI" and they want it off.

Feedback in Nightly is how we figure out if there are too many options or not enough.