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PayPalAs Mozilla promised they would, Firefox version 148.0 has been released and with it you now get to control what generative AI features are enabled or disabled.
The settings aren't buried or difficult to find either, there's a dedicated and very clear section for it in the main Firefox settings panel making it really easy to do. With a one-click overall option, or individual feature controls. So now you can choose if you want AI translations, image alt text in the PDF viewer, tab group suggestions, link previews, chat bots and whatever else they decide to add in future. Thankfully, if they do add other AI features in future they said that the toggle to disable them will apply to newly added stuff too.
Here's what the new page looks like in Firefox on Linux:
There's some other new bits noted too including:
Firefox now has improved support for screen readers accessing mathematical formulas embedded in PDFs.
Remote improvements are now decoupled from telemetry requirements in Firefox Settings. You can now opt into receiving remote browser changes even if you have opted out of sharing telemetry or participating in our experimental studies.
Firefox Backup is now available on Windows 10 to users who also use the “Clear history when Firefox closes” capability. Backups will not include any data which is set to be cleared when Firefox is closed.
The following languages are now available for translation:
- Translation into and from Traditional Chinese.
- Translation into Vietnamese.
New Tab wallpapers will now appear on new container tabs as well as new default tabs.
Plus some security fixes, and the usual assortment of HTML and CSS updates for web developers.
Good to see Mozilla respond to all the feedback on the AI features.
See more in the release notes.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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You can also find comments for this article on social media: 
OT: I think Mozilla did themselves a disservice calling it "On-Device AI" features. I think few people have an issue with local machine learning features. Calling them 'AI' just associate them with something completely different in my view.
Quoting: BrokattMan the comment section on GamingOnLinux is one of the few places in the internet were I don't regret scrolling down. Amazing that we can still be civil even if we disagree.Yeah, it's definitely an underhanded way of making the AI haters look more unhinged for opposing translation and accessibility features.
OT: I think Mozilla did themselves a disservice calling it "On-Device AI" features. I think few people have an issue with local machine learning features. Calling them 'AI' just associate them with something completely different in my view.
Quoting: geckofish52Just to add another voice here...This, very much this. For better or for worse AI is here to stay with us so adding it here and there is not "the end of the world", especially now with global killswitch.
I'm happy to see responsiveness to the community and what seems to be a measured middle ground. I've been a happy Firefox user for a long time and will continue to do so.
Syncing my browser data across devices and powerful extensions on Linux + Android, love it.
It seems that there is no pleasing of some but Mozilla/Firefox has to care about a broader audience than a tiny yet super vocal minority.
Also: all those Firefox "forks" would probably cease to exist once Firefox is gone so keep that in mind…
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