Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#1

Post by thecybernerd » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 12:07 PM UTC

Welcome to the AI Gadget Era
theverge.com

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#2

Post by Mo3 » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:10 PM UTC

The bubble is getting more irrational.. wonder when it will pop.

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#3

Post by AlexandrB » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:16 PM UTC

To me this reads like marketing fluff. A lot of the purported use cases amount to "better Siri/Alexa". It also fails to convincingly answer the most obvious question:

> The primary argument against all these AI gadgets so far has been that the smartphone exists. Why, you might ask, do I need special hardware to access all this stuff?

The proposed answer is because smartphones are too hard to use(???)

> To do almost anything on your phone, you have to take the device out of your pocket, look at it, unlock it, open an app, wait for the app to load, tap between one and 40,000 times, switch to another app, and repeat over and over again.

And an allusion to app stores being bad:

> And they’re not going to get better, not as long as the app store business model stays the way it is.

The part that's left unsaid is that none of these AI devices promise to be some new open model of computing. Instead it's a play at the same or more lock in than with app stores. The Humane pin, for example, requires an expensive ($24/mo) subscription to even use the hardware. The lock in is just in a new playing field where the incumbents don't have a dominant position yet.

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#4

Post by bratbag » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:33 PM UTC

AlexandrB wrote: post #3

To me this reads like marketing fluff. A lot of the purported use cases amount to "better Siri/Alexa". It also fails to convincingly answer the most obvious question: > The primary argument against all these AI gadgets so far has been that the smartphone exists. Why, you might ask, do I need special hardware to access all this stuff? The proposed answer is because smartphones are too hard to use(???) > To do almost a…

Yeah. I think the first half of the article is asking the right questions and highlighting some real problems, but part way through went in a wonky direction.

Those complexities and problems are real, but the obvious value of a context-aware AI is reducing friction by hiding those complexities from the user. So they can state a goal and have the right tools to achieve that goal selected and/or used for them.

Forcing someone to use a half-dozen devices instead of a half-dozen apps is doing the opposite: It's increasing complexity and friction for the user, by adding extra steps between "this is my goal" and "goal accomplished".

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#5

Post by colesantiago » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:34 PM UTC

When iPhone and Android phones incorporates local AI models, the 'AI Gadgets' junk hype fad will end in the same way flashlight apps go.

100%. Bookmark this and come back in 5 years.

There are almost 2BN iPhones and Androids in existence and there is still room to innovate around mobile with AI.

Why buy another gadget just for a single use case with AI when your phone already has the capability and power to run local models on device?

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#6

Post by marban » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:34 PM UTC

"but it’s going to be big."

Or not, because turns out your phone can do it all.

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#7

Post by vouaobrasil » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:37 PM UTC

> Smartphones are great! None of these devices will kill or replace your phone, and anyone who says otherwise is lying to you. But after so many years of using our phones, we’ve forgotten how much friction they actually contain. To do almost anything on your phone, you have to take the device out of your pocket, look at it, unlock it, open an app, wait for the app to load, tap between one and 40,000 times, switch to another app, and repeat over and over again.

I find the less I use my phone and technology, the higher quality life I have. Life seems quite nice with less data and no social media :)

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#8

Post by the_snooze » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:42 PM UTC

vouaobrasil wrote: post #7

> Smartphones are great! None of these devices will kill or replace your phone, and anyone who says otherwise is lying to you. But after so many years of using our phones, we’ve forgotten how much friction they actually contain. To do almost anything on your phone, you have to take the device out of your pocket, look at it, unlock it, open an app, wait for the app to load, tap between one and 40,000 times, switch to…

Yeah, friction makes it easier to sort out what's important vs. what's not. Probably the most life-friendly device I own is my smartwatch: it's just a fancy beeper for skimming through (and not replying to) high-priority messages that make it through my strict notification controls.

Companies need to learn there's a lot of value in restraint and not acting like they're the most important thing in the world.

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#9

Post by MrSkyNet » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:42 PM UTC

Nope.

The white dot thingy which was here a week or two weeks ago?! is also nothing someone needs.

I don't know how smartphones might transform, but surely not into those shown gadgets.

Re: Welcome to the AI Gadget Era

#10

Post by causi » Wed, Apr 03, 2024, 1:49 PM UTC

The things I really wish I could use AI to do are the things I have the least trust in AI doing correctly. Things that are too easy to screw up and have the worst consequences. It's funny when the AI texts your mother that you "stopped to let a group of fucks cross the road". It's not funny if it deletes the wrong files or misconfigures a remote device's network settings.