While browser makers like Microsoft and Google are fully committed to integrating artificial intelligence, the Norwegian Vivaldi is opting for a striking and counterintuitive stance.
In a sharply worded statement, the company opposes the trend of AI assistants taking over user browsing, advocating for the preservation of human curiosity and control. According to Vivaldi, an artificial assistant acts as a filter between the user and the internet, with big tech deciding what the user sees and what they don’t.
The company argues that this leads to a loss of diversity and depth on the web. “When an artificial assistant sits between you and the web, big tech filters what you see and, more importantly, decides what you don’t see, CEO and co-founder of Vivaldi. Von Tetzchner is also the co-founder of the Opera web browser. He left the company in 2010 to found Vivaldi.
Vivaldi doesn’t put AI in the browser
Von Tetzchner criticises the idea that technology is taking over the user’s thinking. “Your judgment is being outsourced,” he writes. He draws a striking comparison: “A browser that browses for you is like paying a robot to go out to dinner with your friends and then giving you a summary of the evening when it gets home.” Vivaldi takes a clear stand, opting for “humans over hype”: no AI in the browser.
