Does AI need a special AI gadget?
The answer is yes and no: Yes if they're glasses; no if they're not.
I shat all over the Humane AI pin before it was fashionable. Back in November, I told you in this newsletter that it would fail in the market.
When another AI gadget emerged, the Rabbit R1, I didn’t bother to criticize it.
Sentiment about these devices followed the same pattern as future AI wearables and carryables will do. The announcement triggered the tech press to automatically gush over them as the shiny new thing.
Then, when reviewers got their hands on them, they pointed out that the form factor is awkward, the product doesn’t really work as advertised and, in the end, it’s just a smartphone minus useful smartphone features.
We can skip the elation-followed-by-disappointment process and just acknowledge what’s true about AI gadgets past and future:
AI doesn’t need a special gadget. It’s a cloud service that you interact with using any device that can send data back and forth — which is to say, any device.
AI is most useful on the nearest device. If you’re sitting in front of a laptop, then the laptop is the best AI device. If you’re out and about, your smartphone is the best device. There’s one exception to this rule, which is:
AI glasses are the best AI device for the simple reason that 1) glasses are common and accepted; and 2) they can put speakers, microphones and displays within one inch of your ears and eyes and a few inches from your mouth.
Any dedicated AI device that anyone invents will have to compete with the power and flexibility of the smartphone and also the convenient proximity to the relevant organs that AI glasses afford, and they’ll always lose that battle.
Also: AI glasses are cheap. The leader in the category for now, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, are only $299.
Lucyd glasses (pictured at top), which I’ve been wearing a lot lately (the company sent me a pair to try), are almost half the price of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. They have three other advantages over Ray-Ban Metas as well: They 1) look even more like normal glasses; 2) have longer battery life (12 hours vs four); and 3) they also return queries much quicker — almost instantly, in fact.
If you want to jump on the AI glasses bandwagon at low cost, I recommend Lucyd.
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Glasses with built-in display, how is it that no one mentions this will be another distraction while driving. We already have to contend with people texting, now we'll also have people reading and eventually watching a movie while driving? ADAS level 4 can't come soon enough.
I feel 100% the same as you on this bit: "AI doesn’t need a special gadget. It’s a cloud service that you interact with using any device that can send data back and forth — which is to say, any device.
AI is most useful on the nearest device. If you’re sitting in front of a laptop, then the laptop is the best AI device. If you’re out and about, your smartphone is the best device."
I like the coverage of the AI glasses, but I can't come round to liking those in general - the smartphone is going to continue to be my primary device for interacting with GenAI.