alt Hacker NewsThis is exactly the kind of boring, unsexy feature that actually builds trust. It’s the opposite of the usual “surprise, here’s an AI sidebar you didn’t ask for and can’t fully disable” pattern. If they want people to try this stuff, the path is pretty simple: ship a browser that treats AI like any other power feature. Off by default, clearly explained, reversible, and preferably shippable as an extension. You can always market your way into more usage; you can’t market your way back into credibility once you blow it.
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My problem here is this; products are designed with a vision. If you are designing with 2-3 visions it won’t be that good, if you design with one vision (AI) then non-AI version of the product will be an after thought. This tells me non-AI version of it will suffer (IMHO)
> This is exactly the kind of boring, unsexy feature that actually builds trust.
Though not so much trust as an option to enable AI features would build.
The trust is built by not enabling this by default, and by not burying the "kill switch" somewhere in settings that non-power users will never find.
saying "trying to slow down, I promise" doesn't magically make your blatant advert not spam
edit: the original post ended with words to the tune of "Totally unrelated, but I run [insert newsletter here]... "
> It’s the opposite of the usual “surprise, here’s an AI sidebar you didn’t ask for and can’t fully disable” pattern.
They literally shipped an AI sidebar nobody asked for.
It is well-known as a result of the expert reports in US v Google that generally software users do not change defaults
Whereas providing an option or a setting that the user must locate and change doesn't really mean much. Few users will ever see it let alone decide to change it
For example, why pay 22 billion to be "the default" if users can just change the default setting