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One of the most anticipated AI gadgets now has a release date

23 points by galaxyLogic 3y ago

reidjs 3y ago
If anyone else was wondering why this is a physical device > Why aren’t all these AI gadgets just an app? The answer is actually really simple: phones and tablets don’t allow AI deep system-level access. The iPhone, especially, is a closed platform that Apple wouldn’t allow AI complete access to.
- AlexandrB 3y ago
  The quote that comes right after is much more scary: > The “Her”/R2D2 interface for Consumer AI must SEE everything that you do on your screen. It needs to understand your life in order to help it (incl. when not using). > You CANNOT do this unless you own the Operating System a person uses for their Work and/or Personal lives.
  - galaxyLogic 3y ago
    Good point. The main thing about AI assistant is you must be able to totally trust it. Not sure if that is the case with Apple.
- xnx 3y ago
  Don't accessibility apps generally have permissions to see and touch anything on the screen?
- __loam 3y ago
  Glad the iPhone has basic OS hygiene.
- r00fus 3y ago
  Because someone read and wanted to replicate "The Diamond Age"?
- twiceaday 3y ago
  That's only one factor. I think the thing that is going to trigger a phase shift when it comes to interacting with LLMs is reducing response latency to conversational ranges by running enough of the models offline. You say something and it starts responding immediately, you interrupt it mid-sentence and it adjusts immediately. That is going to be revolutionary.
  - galaxyLogic 3y ago
    Also a needed feature is speech-understanding, which requires a microphone, which everybody has in their gadget.
- dartos 3y ago
  That’s a non answer. What would they need “system level access” for? I need to see/hear one actual task that I CAN do on that device that I would not be able to do if it was an app.
  - galaxyLogic 3y ago
    It needs to understand what all apps on your device are doing and be able to control them, rather just the one app used for AI.
  - newaccount74 3y ago
    At the very least it needs to be always on, or have a dedicated button to quickly activate it. Launching an app is cumbersome on iPhone, it's just too slow if you want an always-on assistant.
shlubbert 3y ago
This thing is gonna look great on people's shelves
dmitrygr 3y ago
Who exactly is anticipating it? After viewing the non-scripted videos of its use, it is obvious that the thing is very laggy and rather limited. Just wait one version and both iOS and Android will include all the functionality at part of the OS.
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  When I use apps on my phone I communicate with a specific app at any given time. If I'm making a phone-call my inputs go to the phone-app, not to a specific AI-app. So if there was an AI-app I would have to separately activate it and talk to it, else it would not be hearing and seeing what I am doing with my gadget. As pointed out by others it is unclear if Apple would like a 3rd party app which sees and hears and can control everything. Whereas a separate gadget can do that. Apple could do that and maybe they will try something like that, but they are not there yet. And Apple's interest is Apple's interest, not your interest. A separate gadget they cannot control.
kstrauser 3y ago
I’m looking forward to getting mine. I wholly get the skepticism from tech circles, but I’m an eternal optimist. I hope this thing blows me away like my first iPod Touch did: “so this is what the future is like”. And if not, it wasn’t super expensive as far as desk fidgets go.
- dartos 3y ago
  > eternal optimist You’re on the wrong website lol. Personally my main issue with it is just, what does it afford me that my phone does not? From the looks of it, there isn’t anything. Why couldn’t it just be an app? (other than it’d be harder to market) That’s where my skepticism comes from.
  - galaxyLogic 3y ago
    I can see two gadgets, one in my left pocket and another in the right. One for communicating with others, one for communicating with my future self i.e. my AI-self.
    - dartos 3y ago
      This comment is literally everything I dislike about the current AI hype cycle.
  - kstrauser 3y ago
    I’m a meta-contrarian. That’s a very fair point, but I could imagine Apple not helping them make a Siri competitor useful. We’ll see. This may be another CueCat. But it might also be an iPod! Let’s find out.
    - dartos 3y ago
      I’d assume that if the LLM driven voice control pattern is really compelling, then Apple will eventually integrate a LLM with Siri and just destroy any device like rabbit in the market. Doesn’t matter if rabbit is on the App Store or not.
singularity2001 3y ago
I anticipate Avi Schiffmann's "Tap" a hundred times more. In fact I believe in the concept so much that I would invest all my money and time in it.
- squigz 3y ago
  I assume you mean "Tab" - https://www.fastcompany.com/91007630/avi-schiffmanns-tab-ai-necklace-has-raised-1-9-million-to-replace-god https://www.fastcompany.com/91007630/avi-schiffmanns-tab-ai-...
  - singularity2001 3y ago
    Exactly. This typo / ambiguity will likely persist till the end of the singularity ;)
999900000999 3y ago
Looks like a neat toy. I'd rather them implement a full phone though, I'd be down for an alternative OS that isn't owned by Google or Apple. Maybe that's the next step
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  Their gadget could communicate with your phone over BlueTooth when needed.
MyFedora 3y ago
Never heard about it. Even the article itself admits that this is an obsolete technology once Android and iOS integrate AI into their systems, so this is quite an ironic title. Come back when hardware designed for ML training and/or interference with proper pytorch compatibility becomes readily available for hobbyists.
- RetroTechie 3y ago
  > Come back when hardware designed for ML training and/or interference with proper pytorch compatibility becomes readily available for hobbyists. In a way it's already here: regular cpu (and/or gpu) with enough RAM & storage can do it. But what specialized hardware could do: Bring whole classes of AI uses that don't need that much processing power, into reach of "roll your own, run locally & cut Google/MS/Amazon etc out of the loop". In a power-efficient manner. That could be a game changer for sure. I'm happy to see the weird & wonderful AI powered gadgets that will flood the market. But buy any? Will depend a lot on "does it enable company X to look over your shoulder 24/7, yes or no?".
stranded22 3y ago
Batch 6 But - I am SO looking forward to getting this. I have Perplexity Pro anyway, so getting it included just made this a steal. If I hate it, I can just sell on and keep the perplexity pro.

23 points by galaxyLogic 3y ago

If anyone else was wondering why this is a physical device > Why aren’t all these AI gadgets just an app? The answer is actually really simple: phones and tablets don’t allow AI deep system-level access. The iPhone, especially, is a closed platform that Apple wouldn’t allow AI complete access to.

AlexandrB 3y ago
The quote that comes right after is much more scary: > The “Her”/R2D2 interface for Consumer AI must SEE everything that you do on your screen. It needs to understand your life in order to help it (incl. when not using). > You CANNOT do this unless you own the Operating System a person uses for their Work and/or Personal lives.
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  Good point. The main thing about AI assistant is you must be able to totally trust it. Not sure if that is the case with Apple.
xnx 3y ago
Don't accessibility apps generally have permissions to see and touch anything on the screen?
__loam 3y ago
Glad the iPhone has basic OS hygiene.
r00fus 3y ago
Because someone read and wanted to replicate "The Diamond Age"?
twiceaday 3y ago
That's only one factor. I think the thing that is going to trigger a phase shift when it comes to interacting with LLMs is reducing response latency to conversational ranges by running enough of the models offline. You say something and it starts responding immediately, you interrupt it mid-sentence and it adjusts immediately. That is going to be revolutionary.
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  Also a needed feature is speech-understanding, which requires a microphone, which everybody has in their gadget.
dartos 3y ago
That’s a non answer. What would they need “system level access” for? I need to see/hear one actual task that I CAN do on that device that I would not be able to do if it was an app.
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  It needs to understand what all apps on your device are doing and be able to control them, rather just the one app used for AI.
- newaccount74 3y ago
  At the very least it needs to be always on, or have a dedicated button to quickly activate it. Launching an app is cumbersome on iPhone, it's just too slow if you want an always-on assistant.

shlubbert 3y ago

This thing is gonna look great on people's shelves

dmitrygr 3y ago

Who exactly is anticipating it? After viewing the non-scripted videos of its use, it is obvious that the thing is very laggy and rather limited. Just wait one version and both iOS and Android will include all the functionality at part of the OS.

galaxyLogic 3y ago
When I use apps on my phone I communicate with a specific app at any given time. If I'm making a phone-call my inputs go to the phone-app, not to a specific AI-app. So if there was an AI-app I would have to separately activate it and talk to it, else it would not be hearing and seeing what I am doing with my gadget. As pointed out by others it is unclear if Apple would like a 3rd party app which sees and hears and can control everything. Whereas a separate gadget can do that. Apple could do that and maybe they will try something like that, but they are not there yet. And Apple's interest is Apple's interest, not your interest. A separate gadget they cannot control.

kstrauser 3y ago

I’m looking forward to getting mine. I wholly get the skepticism from tech circles, but I’m an eternal optimist. I hope this thing blows me away like my first iPod Touch did: “so this is what the future is like”. And if not, it wasn’t super expensive as far as desk fidgets go.

dartos 3y ago
> eternal optimist You’re on the wrong website lol. Personally my main issue with it is just, what does it afford me that my phone does not? From the looks of it, there isn’t anything. Why couldn’t it just be an app? (other than it’d be harder to market) That’s where my skepticism comes from.
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  I can see two gadgets, one in my left pocket and another in the right. One for communicating with others, one for communicating with my future self i.e. my AI-self.
  - dartos 3y ago
    This comment is literally everything I dislike about the current AI hype cycle.
- kstrauser 3y ago
  I’m a meta-contrarian. That’s a very fair point, but I could imagine Apple not helping them make a Siri competitor useful. We’ll see. This may be another CueCat. But it might also be an iPod! Let’s find out.
  - dartos 3y ago
    I’d assume that if the LLM driven voice control pattern is really compelling, then Apple will eventually integrate a LLM with Siri and just destroy any device like rabbit in the market. Doesn’t matter if rabbit is on the App Store or not.

singularity2001 3y ago

I anticipate Avi Schiffmann's "Tap" a hundred times more. In fact I believe in the concept so much that I would invest all my money and time in it.

squigz 3y ago
I assume you mean "Tab" - https://www.fastcompany.com/91007630/avi-schiffmanns-tab-ai-necklace-has-raised-1-9-million-to-replace-god https://www.fastcompany.com/91007630/avi-schiffmanns-tab-ai-...
- singularity2001 3y ago
  Exactly. This typo / ambiguity will likely persist till the end of the singularity ;)

999900000999 3y ago

Looks like a neat toy. I'd rather them implement a full phone though, I'd be down for an alternative OS that isn't owned by Google or Apple. Maybe that's the next step

galaxyLogic 3y ago
Their gadget could communicate with your phone over BlueTooth when needed.

MyFedora 3y ago

Never heard about it. Even the article itself admits that this is an obsolete technology once Android and iOS integrate AI into their systems, so this is quite an ironic title. Come back when hardware designed for ML training and/or interference with proper pytorch compatibility becomes readily available for hobbyists.

RetroTechie 3y ago
> Come back when hardware designed for ML training and/or interference with proper pytorch compatibility becomes readily available for hobbyists. In a way it's already here: regular cpu (and/or gpu) with enough RAM & storage can do it. But what specialized hardware could do: Bring whole classes of AI uses that don't need that much processing power, into reach of "roll your own, run locally & cut Google/MS/Amazon etc out of the loop". In a power-efficient manner. That could be a game changer for sure. I'm happy to see the weird & wonderful AI powered gadgets that will flood the market. But buy any? Will depend a lot on "does it enable company X to look over your shoulder 24/7, yes or no?".

stranded22 3y ago

Batch 6 But - I am SO looking forward to getting this. I have Perplexity Pro anyway, so getting it included just made this a steal. If I hate it, I can just sell on and keep the perplexity pro.