Let’s try making better software, like in the ye olden days, huh? Link to heading

A few weeks ago, someone bought me three beers through the widget on my site (thanks, man! <3). Their message said they were “being very positively challenged by my writing on AI” and that they also loved functional programming and valued the craft. So I know I’m not alone in feeling weird about the current AI-in-everything zeitgeist.

And equally encouraging is this: Vivaldi just released version 7.8 of their browser, and instead of the usual “we added AI features because everyone else did” announcement, they went the opposite direction. Their message to Big Tech? “Humans don’t need AI babysitters.”

You can say that again!

The actual quote Link to heading

Vivaldi’s CEO Jon von Tetzchner:

“The entire browser industry is solving the wrong problem. They’re building assistants that filter what you see, decide what you don’t need.”

Browsing should “light up your brain, not numb it.” Outsourcing exploration to algorithms means “you’re not browsing anymore.”

A browser company, publicly saying: we think you’re capable of thinking for yourself. Wild.

Head, not tail Link to heading

Vivaldi frames it as treating users as “pilots” rather than “passengers.” Reminds me of my mantra (or The Bible’s, really) to be the head, not the tail.

Instead of AI deciding what you should see, Vivaldi builds actual tools: drag-and-drop tab tiling, domain-restricted pinned tabs, workspaces you control. Tools that extend what you can do, not tools that decide what you should do.

I’ve written about this before. When Shopify’s CEO called for “reflexive AI usage”, my reaction was visceral: that sounds like a diagnosis, not a goal. The whole point of craft is that you do the work. You struggle and you learn. Outsourcing that to an algorithm isn’t efficiency, it’s atrophy. Subscription model stupidity.

Going against the grain Link to heading

Every major browser is racing to add AI features. Chrome has Gemini. Edge has Copilot. Safari has its own thing, and might be cooking up something more (though, to be fair, Apple has been the least AI-pushy so far, I’ll give them that). The industry consensus is clear in any case: AI in everything, everywhere, all at once.

And here’s Vivaldi saying: actually, no. We spent our engineering time on “stability and features users requested. Not on AI assistants that hallucinate answers while training on your private browsing.”

That last part is spicy. And accurate.

My own weird crusade Link to heading

Last year I stripped my iPhone down to the essentials using Apple Configurator because I was tired of my phone trying to be “helpful” in ways I didn’t ask for, and I wanted to stop Googling everything I was wondering about instead of actually enjoying thinking about things. More recently, I took a three-week break from LLMs entirely just to remember what my own brain felt like without the crutch.

Same idea, really. I want to be the one in control. There’s a difference between a tool and an autopilot, and too much of modern software wants to be the latter.

Vivaldi gets this. Give users actual tools and trust them to use those tools. Rare stance these days.

What I’m not saying Link to heading

I’m not saying AI is useless. I use it for boring stuff all the time. Boilerplate, documentation, data munging - the parts of work that don’t require my full engagement. AI existing isn’t the issue. AI being forced into places where I’d rather think for myself? That’s the issue.

When I browse the web, I want to decide what’s interesting. Follow rabbit holes that seem weird. Stumble onto things an algorithm would never recommend because my browsing history doesn’t “support” it. That’s where the good stuff lives.

An AI assistant filtering my experience “for my own good” isn’t helping. It’s just… sad.

To sum up Link to heading

While everyone else competes to see who can stuff more AI into their products, Vivaldi is betting that some people still want to think for themselves.

I’m one of those people. Maybe you are too.

I’ll probably run this post through an LLM before publishing, for what it’s worth. (Or maybe I shouldn’t?) But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? I ask for help when I want it. The tool doesn’t get to decide for me. Please catch my typos and grammatical slips, but don’t tell me what/how to write!

Frankly, proof-reading this text (myself!) makes me want to do another LLM fast, and do even the boring parts myself for a while. Maybe I Should?

So thank you, Vivaldi, for making software better instead of humans dumber!

Disclaimer: This post is not endorsed (or paid) by Vivaldi, I just happen to enjoy their approach to making software.