Much has been written about the potential positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the lives of technology users and consumers. Oslo-based browser company Opera last week outlined its intentions to harness the positive potential of AI in its browser sidebar, mainly to provide seamless access for users.

Lin Song, co-CEO of Opera, believes now is the time for browsers to step up and become the gateway to an AI-powered web.   

Opera previously used deep learning and AI to power personalized experiences in its content discovery and recommendations products, helping users find content that is relevant to their interests. 

Now the company will take steps toward expanding its existing AI program into AI-generated content (AIGC) for its browser, news and gaming products through its solutions and new as well as existing partnerships. 

AI continues to re-share what products can do and what users expect, according to the company. The interest in AI services has surged with ChatGPT recently surpassing 100 million users in record time. Opera’s AI integration follows the browser’s track record of giving users direct access to the internet’s most in-demand platforms, such as TikTok, Telegram, and WhatsApp. 

“Integrating [AI] technology into search has significant energy and emissions implications — ChatGPT has about 13 million users per day, according to UBS data.

 Microsoft Bing crunches half a billion searches daily and Google 8.5 billion,” Insider Intelligence wrote in a blog post on Monday.

Insider Intelligence Analyst Jacob Bourne wrote that “AI search’s high costs could be a vicious cycle as big tech eyes profitability. One problem he points to is “the associated energy costs and carbon emissions add to the litany of generative AI’s problems.”

Opera plans to add popular AI-generated content services to the browser sidebar, and is working to augment the browsing experience with new features that will interact with new generative-AI-powered capabilities.

Among the first features to be tested is a “Shorten” button in the address bar that will use AI to generate short summaries of any webpage or article.

The idea is for AI to help Opera create written materials faster, as content continues to ramp up.

Beyond giving its users access to AI services such as ChatGPT, Opera will develop AI capabilities that filters through all the content and summarizes it for users in a relevant way.