Why not both? (I know lots of folks will hate this take, but please hear me out.)
Because let’s be real: AI is not going away. Yes, we’re all waiting for the AI bubble to bust. And I really want it to, these companies are getting so terrible. But when it bursts, AI isn’t going to disappear. It will condense down to a few companies, or even just one. Do you want one company controlling all the AI out there? Controlling all the answers AI gives? Saying how you or others can use it?
Mozilla claims they want to develop responsible AI. They say they want to make their AI private, and work on-device. I believe we should be encouraging this, so that we don’t end up with control of AI in the hands of Google, Meta, or Musk.
We need alternatives, badly. Because AI is here to stay, no matter how much we hate it. This Pandora’s Box has already been opened, and things aren’t going back.
Do you want one company controlling all the AI out there? Controlling all the answers AI gives?
Do you really think that there won’t be multiple models even if the bubble bursts? The “best” models are from China and are open source. “We” don’t control China at all! So I don’t see this as likely.
Mozilla claims they want to develop responsible AI.
Put up or shut up, right?
They say they want to make their AI private, and work on-device. I believe we should be encouraging this, so that we don’t end up with control of AI in the hands of Google, Meta, or Musk.
I had no issue with the AI features in Firefox - the tab sorter and the translations, etc.
What I DO have an issue with is Mozilla turning its users into training fodder for the AI companies - instead of just building that private AI they keep jawboning about.
I truly feel that Mozilla is in danger, as their inability to modernize fast enough when other browsers did…Left them with a smaller market share after all said and done. AI is a losing bet, that will bring them ruin. Sucks to suck, I guess (sucking on the teat of Google instead of seeking better, ethical funding).
At least Firefox will live on in forks, a direct blessing of open source projects. The good shit can be preserved and the cursed stuff can be cut out!
IIRC, the devs of at least one of the forks - thought I forget which - have said they’d be forced quit if there was no upstream Firefox to constantly rebase from.
I wonder how many of the forks (or rather, their dev teams) would be able to handle the load of becoming ‘The Main Project’ if Firefox-proper went away.
That’s what I wonder as well…As they do need material to rebase from. I don’t know of many teams that might be able to handle that level of commitment and expense (lets be real, it’s costly to create and maintain a browser). Some of the forks have small teams, so I expect that there will be a lot of project deaths as a direct result of Firefox losing Mozilla constant support. Realistically, if Mozilla gets KO’d, nobody outside of a bigger company could ever hope to develop and maintain Firefox.
If Mozilla is in danger because they’re not modernizing fast enough, then Firefox forks without Mozilla providing core updates will fall even farther behind.
Not to mention that adding AI features is part of that modernizing. I know it’s a common refrain around here that “nobody’s asking for AI” but that doesn’t seem to actually be the case given how much actual demand there is for AI tools and services. If Firefox doesn’t add these features that means they’re handing that entire market over to closed-source browsers voluntarily.
I am specifically talking about the point in the early 2000’s when Mozilla was behind when other browsers were stepping up their game. I don’t consider implementing AI features a modernization attempt, that’s just chasing a trend that big corps are trying to gaslight end users into adopting. Given the pushback and dislike of AI in general, it would be smarter for them to cater to users that don’t want it. Which is why I use Vivaldi which is proudly against using AI until it can be ethically implemented (due to the current implementation, never).
Ruining both.
Fucking itself and the web
Saving neither, is my feeling.
Back when Mozilla was building Firefox to save the web, Mozilla was actually producing a product that people could use that did what the big bad companies were pushing. This time around, Mozilla is just selling our eyeballs to the big bad companies while jawboning about how virtuous they are.
blame fucking google
More like antitrust laws, or lack of them.
