The duality of language models in the browser

I have complex feelings about Generative AI but one area I find myself weirdly bullish on is small language models (SLMs) in the browser which are available in Chrome and Edge behind an experimental flag. I know, I know. I know. AI in the browser reeks of a product manager trying to hit a KPI to shoehorn AI into everything. I understand if you read the phrase “AI in the browser” and involuntarily threw up on your keyboard, said “Fuck this”, and then closed this tab. I will not hold that against you. For the rest of you, hear me out… There’s an “Always bet on the Web” quality to the idea of browser-based models that I appreciate. There’s a self-hosted vibe to it. I shouldn’t have to pay a billionaire each month to summarize an email or generate a picture of myself with ultra-white teeth, doubly-so when they’re selling our regurgitated data back to us. Those gimmicky use-cases or even the more practical-yet-often-purple-washed “AI for accessibility” use-cases should fall under the Web’s…