I have to analyze a lot of Web pages as part of my job and am wondering if there’s any way to have that feature within my browser? I’m on a reasonably new iMac, but it’s not the latest generation M-series chip. What are my options?
Given that they’re the fundamental building block of the entire World Wide Web and that there are billions of them, you would think that there would be more tools to help you understand what’s on a Web page. Turns out we’re just starting to get there with the AI tools that have exploded on the scene. Interestingly, though, while every Web browser company also has an AI project going on, there are few integrated options.
Apple‘s been pushing aggressively to expand its Apple Intelligence, for example, but even in MacOS 15.4 beta, there’s no integration of AI into Safari. Google is betting the proverbial farm on its Gemini AI system, but while there are some tendrils of it oozing into Chrome on the Mac, there’s no button you can press to receive a simple summary. My suggestion: Microsoft Edge for Mac.
Before you run away with nightmare visions of Internet Explorer, know that Edge is a completely new codebase built atop Chromium, the open source heart of Google Chrome. In a lot of ways, you can think of Edge as Chrome with a “Microsoft layer”. It’s rock solid, fast, and works flawlessly with everything Microsoft, including Office365 and Outlook. More importantly, it has Microsoft Copilot AI tightly – and smoothly – integrated into the user experience.
Let’s have a look, then consider how you could summarize pages without using a browser at all.
BROWSERS WITHOUT A SIGN OF AI SMARTS
To begin, let’s have a peek at Apple’s new information page for the iPhone 16e in Safari for MacOS 15.4 beta:
Given that Apple Mail now has a wonderful “summarize” AI-powered feature in this version of MacOS, it’s a puzzle why there isn’t something similar – or any sign of AI – in Safari. But there’s not.
How about Google Chrome?
Again, nada. This is with me going into Settings > Experimental > AI and enabling the AI features. Somewhere in Chrome there are wisps of Gemini, but on the main screen? Nyet.
MICROSOFT EDGE FOR THE WIN
Microsoft Edge makes its Copilot AI front-and-center by comparison:
See that multicolor “O” graphic on the top right? That opens up a Copilot sidebar if clicked. There’s also a second shortcut that you can’t see above, a hotspot along the very bottom edge that can pop up a tiny prompt window by simply moving the cursor over it. Let’s stick with the sidebar, however. A click on the icon on the top right and…
Notice that Edge is smart enough to recognize that if I’m viewing a page and click on the Copilot button, I might well want to explore the Web page, not just have a completely unrelated query (though I can do the latter if I want).
The input box is at the bottom, but I’m just going to click on “Create a summary“.
Instead of scrolling through endless animations that slowly reveal themselves on the actual iPhone information page from Apple, Copilot’s done the work and given me the key information.
I can now dig in further. For example, comparing it to the far less expensive Google Pixel 8a:
Because Copilot is context aware, I could just say “this phone” and it knew I meant the iPhone 16e. Note that it also decided that a table was the easiest way to compare the two on features. Smart!
Also worth noting is that the iPhone 16e is $599 for the 128GB model, while the Google Pixel 8a is $499 for the same storage capacity (and better cameras, as the chart above shows).
SUMMARIZE PAGES WITHOUT A BROWSER
It turns out you don’t need a Web browser to have AI summarize a public Web page, however. I’m a fan of ChatGPT Plus (a subscription service) and it can go onto the Web to respond to queries. In fact, check this out:
ChatGPT shows its sources in the tiny grey boxes, which reveals that it’s gone beyond my request! Instead of just focusing on the page in question, it’s pulled in information from other pages (and cited them, as appropriate).
You can tell an AI it’s failed, and that’s exactly what I’ll do. It’s pretty interesting:
Isn’t that interesting? It’s more than you can say to a Google search, that’s for sure. It’s part of how you can most efficiently utilize AI tools to streamline your work: Teach the tool what kind of output you seek.
That’s it. If you want AI integrated into your Mac web browser, I encourage you to check out Microsoft Edge. If you want to have a separate AI tool that can summarize by URL, there are oodles of choices including Perplexity for Mac, Gemini for Mac, Copilot for Mac, and ChatGPT for Mac, all standalone apps or via your Web browser. So many choices! Maybe you should ask AI which is best for you? 🤪
Pro tip: I’ve been writing about AI and its many uses for quite a while. While you’re here I invite you to check out my AI help library for more useful tutorials!