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Is Your Browser Secretly Controlling What You See Online? Are AI Assistants in Browsers Killing Your Ability to Think for Yourself?
Have you ever thought about how you explore the internet? You type something in, click on links, and discover new things. It’s like an adventure where you are in charge. But a new trend is trying to change that. Big tech companies are adding artificial intelligence, or AI, into their web browsers. This AI acts like an assistant. It wants to do the searching for you. It summarizes pages before you even read them. It offers to find things for you. This might sound helpful, but the makers of the Vivaldi browser are worried. They believe this change is not good for us. They have taken a stand to keep browsing human. They want you to stay in control of your online world.
The people behind Vivaldi see a problem. When an AI assistant sits between you and the internet, it changes everything. This AI filters what you see. It decides what information to show you and what to hide. Think about it like having someone else read a book for you and then only telling you the parts they think are important. You miss out on the full story. You lose the chance to form your own opinions. Your journey of discovery turns into just watching what someone else has chosen for you. This is a big deal. The internet is a place for learning and growing. It should spark your curiosity and make you think. Vivaldi believes that letting AI take over takes away this essential part of being online.
The Dangers of Letting AI Browse for You
Using the internet should be an active experience. You ask questions. You compare different websites. You find new ideas that lead you to even more questions. This process helps your brain work. It makes you a smarter, more informed person. Vivaldi is concerned that AI assistants are turning this active process into a passive one. Instead of being an explorer, you become a spectator. You are just watching a show that the AI has created for you.
This has serious consequences. One major issue is security. When an AI agent browses for you, it can be tricked. This is called “prompt injection,” and it can be a significant security risk. It means someone could potentially manipulate the AI to show you false information or lead you to harmful websites.
Beyond security, there is another big problem. The internet is a huge, diverse place filled with content from millions of creators, writers, artists, and businesses. These people and organizations depend on you visiting their websites. It’s how they share their work, build a community, and often, how they make a living. When an AI summarizes a webpage for you, you are much less likely to click on the original link. Why would you, if the AI gives you a short version?
Studies are already showing this is a real problem. Research from the Pew Research Center found that when AI summaries appear in search results, people click on the actual links about half as often. This is a massive drop. Publishers and creators are worried. They are already seeing traffic to their sites go down. If this trend continues, it could be devastating for the vibrant, open web we know today. The diversity of voices and the richness of content could slowly fade away. The web could become a much less interesting place, dominated by a few AI gatekeepers.
The Shifting Browser Landscape
The fight for the best browser used to be about simple things like speed or how many tabs you could have open. Now, the battle has changed. It’s about who controls the flow of information. It’s about who gets to decide what you see and what you don’t.
Google Chrome
Google is putting its AI, called Gemini, into the Chrome browser. Gemini will summarize pages for you. In the future, Google says it will be able to work across all your tabs and even navigate websites on your behalf.
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft is pushing its Edge browser as an “AI browser.” It includes features that scan what’s on your screen and try to guess what you want to do next. The search bar is becoming less of a place to type in a web address and more of a place to give commands to an AI assistant.
This shift is changing the very nature of browsing. The address bar, once a simple tool, is becoming a prompt for an AI. The joy of finding something unexpected, of stumbling upon a new favorite blog or an amazing artist, is being replaced by the efficiency of an AI summary. Vivaldi argues that we lose something precious in this trade. Our curiosity doesn’t get the chance to stretch its legs.
The stakes are incredibly high. New browsers are being built from the ground up with AI at their core. Lawmakers and regulators are trying to figure out how to handle this new reality. The big questions are: Who will be the middleman for knowledge? Who will profit from our attention? Who will control the pathways to information, and ultimately, who gets to make money from your online activity?
Vivaldi’s Promise: Humans First
In the face of this industry-wide rush to embrace AI, Vivaldi is making a clear and different promise. Their CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, has stated that they are choosing humans over hype. They refuse to turn the joy of exploring into what they call “inactive spectatorship.” They believe that without active exploration, the web becomes boring. Our natural curiosity suffocates, and the wonderful diversity of the internet withers.
This doesn’t mean Vivaldi is against all technology or all forms of AI. They acknowledge that machine learning is an exciting field and could lead to genuinely useful features in the future. However, they are cautious. Right now, there is a lot of misinformation online. They don’t want to add to that problem by using an AI that could make mistakes or be manipulated.
So, for now, Vivaldi has decided against several common AI features:
- No AI Chatbots: They will not add a chatbot to the browser.
- No AI Summaries: They will not use AI to summarize web pages for you.
- No AI Suggestions: They will not have an AI engine suggest how to fill out forms.
Vivaldi will only consider adding these kinds of features when they are certain they can be done in a way that is rigorous, safe, and doesn’t compromise the user’s experience or the open web.
Vivaldi sees itself as a haven for people who still want to be curious. It’s for power users, researchers, students, and anyone who values their independence and wants to make up their own mind. Their goal is to build a browser that gives you, the user, control. If a form of AI can help with that goal without stealing intellectual property, invading your privacy, or harming the open web, they will consider it. But if an AI feature turns you into a passive consumer of information, they will not build it. Their focus remains on creating a powerful, personal, and private browser that lets you explore the web on your own terms. They are fighting for a better, more human web.