Finally, AI has been noticed to creep into the Firefox browser and cripple its performance. Here is how to disable AI-related features.
about:config as the URL and access Firefox configuration settings.browser.tabs.groups.smart and set enabled features to false.browser.ml and set browser.ml.enable, browser.ml.chat.enabled and probably some extra relevant keys to false.Good luck!
Thanks so much. I was wanting to disable AI in Firefox.
Sorry, Eugene. I did not notice that I had the wrong quote pasted. 
I was trying to respond to Andy's point, corrected above.
That is a Google Search "feature"; not Firefox.
Corrected my earlier posting.
In librewolf (=firefox with sane defaults) browser.ml.enable is false by default. 
Thank you, Andy. I saw that ... but I prefer to avoid importing possible troubles from a 3rd-party Plug-in.
I would rather wait and have Google offer a toggle to turn it off at source ... thereby saving their compute time/cost.
Well Eric.
Google may not offer it.
The advanced search has a learning curve, but no AI.
I was wrong.
Firefox 143.0 is out with Microsoft Copilot AI Integration
For AI users, the new Firefox release added Microsoft Copilot support. It so far supports “Quick response” and “Smart (GPT-5)” chat mode in my case, with ability to generate text, image, and code, and analyze image. It’s free without login required, though a pad version is available for choice that needs an account.
Looks like it can be disabled through mentioned steps & settings.
I believe that you are mistaken with that statement. Google Search has AI, just not AI that you can control by anything other than the search strings/parameters which you specify in the search box. When that "AI Assistant" is triggered by a query (not every query), that shows up at the top looking like this:
I'm unsure, but I believe it is triggered by phrasing a question in the search box (not address bar), not when only entering a specification using strings/modifiers.
Duck ai can be disabled.After doing a search (any search will do) you’ll see this at the top of the page:
Click on Duck.ai right next to Search Assist and this will come up:
Just click on Disable Duck.ai and you'll be brought to a screen where you can disable it.
Next time you do a search you'll notice that it's gone.
Search Assist can also be disabled.Just click on Never in the drop down menu.
When you do your next search you'll notice it gone.
Why the knee-jerk reaction to disable these? I’m not enthusiastic about using them, but “standard search” has been so corrupted by “sponsored” results and “search engine optimization” as to be rendered nearly useless unless you already know appropriate search terms.
I haven’t found these AI results or summaries to be very useful yet, but I’ll give them a chance for a while longer. OTOH, Amazon’s “Rufus” search has actively caused half a dozen returns for orders placed after its incorrect answers about products.
I have found Duck Ai pretty good for getting facts, but often you have to ask a second question and drill down a bit. The first answers are to generic. On opinion kind of things it tries to be to politically correct, but will adjust the answer if you point that out.
I just had a ‘conversation with Duck Ai assist, and this proves my point. I served in the USCG 1974 - 1978 part of that time in Milwaukee, WI Group Headquarters Search and Rescue Station. The USCG Ice Breaker Westwind was also stationed in the Milwaukee harbor/river. I asked which of the 4 Wind class Ice Breakers was the last to be retired. Here are the responses,
which USCG wind class icebreaker was the last one to be retired?
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Assist
The last USCG Wind-class icebreaker to be retired was the USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282), which was decommissioned in 1989.
Search Results
USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282)Wikipedia
When was the Westwind retired?
.
GPT-4o mini
The USCGC Westwind (WAGB-281) was retired on September 30, 1994.
so was the last the north wind or the Westwind? Your dates conflict.
.
GPT-4o mini
The last USCG Wind-class icebreaker to be retired was indeed the USCGC Westwind (WAGB-281), which was decommissioned on September 30, 1994. The USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282) was decommissioned earlier, on June 30, 1989. I apologize for the confusion in my previous response. Thank you for pointing that out!
Wikipedia is not reliable, but Ai used it as a source. Garbage in Garbage out.
All depends on your definition of "knee-jerk". I don't use it for all the reasons you listed.
Standard search might be corrupted but if you know what you're looking for and input the search criteria correctly you'll more times than not get the right answer.
But ... isn't the whole point of AI founded on the assumption that the questor does not know what are valid inputs or responses, and to expect that it's logic/knowledge should guide the questor towards the correct answer, not a corrupt or invalid answer.
Is that not so?