If 2023 was the year of AI software, 2024 is shaping up to be the year of AI hardware.
Over the past few months, companies like Google, Samsung, Meta, and Microsoft have been showing off smartphones, laptops, and even glasses that they claim are highly integrated with generative artificial intelligence. But this moment also gave rise to a new type of device centered around users interacting with her AI.
Customers received their first Rabbit R1 at an event at the TWA Hotel in New York City last month. Bright orange and roughly the same size and shape as a packet of sticky notes, the device has a compact 2.88-inch screen, a camera in the top right corner, a scroll wheel, and buttons on the side to activate voice controls. there is. The idea, according to Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu, is to reduce the number of steps required to do the things you currently do on your smartphone.
“Our mission is to create the simplest computer possible, one so intuitive that you don't need to learn how to use it,” Liu said in a keynote speech at the company's Consumer Electronics Show in January. He spoke at
Instead of wading through pages of apps and notifications while trying to avoid getting distracted by Instagram, users can simply speak commands to R1, Rabbit says. Then, using an artificial intelligence technique they call “large action model,” the device fulfills that request.
At least, that's the idea.
Rabbit early adopters
Daniel Ko is a fractional CFO at an AI startup. He said his Rabbit isn't involved in his work at the moment – it's just a customer for now – but he feels R1 has a lot of potential.
“Personally, I bought it because it looked really cool. In a way, it's probably the first generation of something like the next iPhone,” Koh told ABC Audio.
“At this moment, I think I'm just curious,” said Danny Cole, a New York City-based artist who also owns R1. He says he likes the idea of a device that takes people away from their smartphones.
“I think it's hard to predict whether cell phones will be able to meet our needs in 10 or 20 years,” Cole said, adding, “Probably not!”
Jonah Cohn is a college student living in Chicago. He told ABC Audio that he came to New York solely to receive R1 in person.
“I definitely consider myself a serial early adopter,” Cohn said. He also owns Vision Pro, Apple's mixed reality headset that was released earlier this year. “I'm really someone who likes to try things out in the first generation to figure out what's going to take over the rest of the world.”
But he also said there are risks to early adoption, especially when it involves artificial intelligence, which has faced criticism for being unreliable and inaccurate.
“I was scared that if I got this, it wouldn't be as written. And I still don't understand it, because even though I just got it, , because I've only been eating it for about five minutes, you know? Cohn said.
Humane AI Pin
Rabbit isn't the only tech company laying claim to the AI gadget space. Humane, a company founded by several former Apple employees, recently began selling AI Pin. The AI Pin is a $699 wearable device measuring 1 3/4 inches square and 1/3 inch thick that attaches to a person's clothing like a lapel pin.
“AI Pin is a whole new kind of computer,” Humane CEO Bethany Bongiorno told ABC Audio. She said that despite the price and $24 per month phone plan, Pin is not intended to be a smartphone replacement.
“When you got a smartphone, it didn't replace your laptop. But it made your relationship with your laptop completely different,” Bongiorno said. “You were much more focused. You went to your laptop to do certain things that a laptop is really good at. You went to your smartphone to do certain things that a smartphone is really good at. And , we think Pin allows you to have a more focused relationship with your phone.”
According to Humane, cell phones are used to watch videos and scroll through social media. AI Pins, on the other hand, are meant to handle tasks like sending messages, setting reminders, and searching. The answer to the pin will be read out by an automated voice, just like the rabbit. These answers are generated by large-scale language models from companies like OpenAI and Google, a combination of artificial intelligence technologies that can understand and generate human language. Bongiorno said this is all to prevent users from becoming addicted to their phones.
“I prefer to use my pins in more moments of the day because I'm choosing to stay present,” she said. “Personally, I want to live my life in the outside world with my family and friends, and I want to use my cell phone less.”
But reviews for AI Pin have been overwhelmingly negative so far.
pin is panned
Tech critic Marques Brownlee, who goes by “MKBHD” on YouTube, titled his review of Humane's device “The worst product I've ever reviewed.” A review in technology publication The Verge says, “AI Pins aren't worth the money.”
Engadget's deputy reviews editor Charyn Lowe told ABC Audio that the device “doesn't solve any real problems” and “I don't see how it could be anything good.”
“When reviews of the Humane AI Pin came out, many reviews, including mine, were negative,” said Wired Reviews editor Julian Chokkattu.
He said complaints against Pin include everything from limited functionality to unreliable AI-generated answers. Several reviewers say that AI Pin takes too long to answer questions, causing them to often return to their smartphones for answers. Others have encountered overheating issues that make the AI pin uncomfortable to wear.
Humane says many of these issues have been resolved with software updates and that [the] Ai Pin will become smarter and more powerful over time. ” The company added that it will continue to improve.
In a statement, the company told ABC News that AI Pins is “just the first page of the first chapter of an entirely new product category.”
But Chokkatu said buyers should refrain from buying incomplete devices, saying: “My request is for them to ship the finished product, but unfortunately we are no longer in that world. No,” he said. In the meantime, he said, most people already have devices that do everything that AI gadgets aim to do.
“Personally, I don't think any of the upcoming devices are going to dethrone the smartphone,” Chokkatu said.
Real-world AI gadgets
Not everyone had a disappointing experience with these early AI gadgets. Jonah Cohn, a Chicago resident and early adopter of Rabbit R1, also has a Humane AI pin. He says it's proven useful, such as when he recently encountered a group of people in costumes at a park.
“I saw a bunch of people cosplaying in Star Wars costumes and I thought, 'Hey, why are people cosplaying in Star Wars costumes in Chicago today?' ” Is something going on? And within seconds, I found out there was a tournament going on across the street,” Cohn said. “It was really cool. I didn't have to take out my phone, I didn't have to step away from social interaction. I just asked a really quick question.”
Still, Cohn said that aside from the device's technical capabilities, the pin presented some social challenges, such as when it was first worn to the grocery store.
“When I got to the checkout counter, I was a little embarrassed and immediately took off my shirt,” he said. “I mean, I know it's not a recording, but the guy at the checkout counter, who I kind of know, doesn't know that. I really don't want them to get into that awkward situation of, 'Are you recording this?'
About a week after the Rabbit event, Danny Cole tested the new R1 at McCarren Park in Brooklyn, New York. When prompted, the device accurately answered questions such as “What's the weather like now?” “Who was the president in 1955?”
Additionally, R1 was also able to use its camera system to identify several objects in its surroundings, such as “This looks like a pigeon” and “This is a Jeep Wrangler.”
But Cole admits the device is far from perfect.
“There was a song that I had in my head, and there were lyrics that I clearly remembered. So I thought, 'Oh, I'll ask Rabbit what song this is,'” Cole told ABC Audio. Told. “I asked the rabbit, and he taught me a different song. And I tried again and again and again, but the song didn't work.”
After a week of ownership, Cole said she was disappointed with her purchase. R1 lacks the features he expected, and he relies on AI to respond, which can result in inaccurate responses.
“Unfortunately, it doesn't really work reliably yet,” Cole said.
Rabbit told ABC News: [the R1’s responses] It's based solely on the large language model you use. Rabbit has also started sending out software updates to address some issues.
But for now, Kohl's smartphone isn't going anywhere.
“It's really cool to show people. See it in action,” he said of the Rabbit R1. “But it's useless until you trust it and it works.”
Listen to the full story from ABC Audio.
