Alert! Alert! Have you ever thought of having a personal assistant who can be with you all the time? What about a health advisor? What about someone to be there when you just want to be understood? Don’t worry, for just $699 you can get yourself an all-in-one with the AI Pin!
Unlike the iPhone, when you buy an AI pin, a charger and adapter are included in the box with unlimited AI queries, unlimited talk, text, data & cloud storage (included within the $24 per month subscription excluding taxes & fees).
If you feel like your device is spying on you (it is), have no fear, because the AI pin will let you know when the camera and/or microphone are in use with an indicator light! Ditch your smartphone for the future with the power of generative AI in the palm of your shirt pocket! *end*
AI Pin is a recent innovation that aired for preorder in November of 2023 under the company Humane started by two former Apple employees Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. Drawing from this article published by Andrew Lanxon on CNET, the pins’ aim is to lean towards a “screen-free, AI-powered future.” It appears to have all the capabilities of a smartphone: a unique phone number, virtual assistant capabilities (ex. Siri), translation, picture capture, and Bluetooth connectivity. Another article written by Harry McCracken discusses the hype that went into AI Pin as well as $241 million in funding. In some ways, the AI Pin is a lot more integrative into daily living compared to the Apple Vision Pro in price, function, and convenience. But is this really where the future lies?
But, one thing stood out that was once seen in films, and then keyboards and now can be done on the go: Laser Ink. Laser Ink uses laser projections to create interactive images that can rest on the palm of your hand. Lanxton shares their experience of watching the demo from Bongiorno: “Bongiorno used the camera to take a photo of me [Lanxton], before projecting it onto her palm. She also demonstrated how the laser picked up on the mid-air gestures she was making with her fingers, allowing her to interact with the information being projected using swipes and pinches. “This is something that’s really critical, because there are moments where you might not want to speak to it, or you might not be in a position to speak to it,” said Bongiorno.”
In some ways, we’re getting closer to the future that was imagined through sci-fi films. But like all the other terms and conditions of Meta, Google, Apple, etc. what rights are users signing away when they commit to the AI Pin?
Bethany Bongiorno claims, “something that’s really important about it is that we want to live more in the moment.” Does this really instigate living more in the moment if people are losing precious, limited time to an easily accessed personal smart device?
For another perspective, see this article from Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/humane-ai-pin-700-dollar-smartphone-alternative-wearable
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