The real potential of AI PCs lies not in replacing your current main computer, but in their future use.
AI, the latest buzzword, seems to be infiltrating literally everything these days. After powering chatbots, virtual assistants, web tools, and your favorite applications, AI is now starting to seep into silly roles like burger flippers, fortune tellers, beauty pageant judges, and even toothbrushes and vacuum mops.
It was only a matter of time before artificial intelligence was introduced into personal computing, and that time is now. But do we really need artificial intelligence?
The failure of devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit r1, and the overkill of burger-flipping Flippy, have shown us that not everything needs artificial intelligence. Just because AI sells now doesn't mean we need to reinvent the wheel with it.
Many of the features that will be coming to AI PCs, beyond native AI assistants, will still require an internet connection. Currently, these computers mainly use artificial intelligence to speed up on-device or cloud-based tasks.
But now that AI PCs have arrived, we have to wonder: is it really necessary to upgrade from a traditional computer to an AI PC, or is it just a gadget that will become obsolete in a few years? To answer that, we need to understand what AI PCs are, why they were made, how they work, what problems they solve, and whether end users are ready to accept AI processing built into their main devices.
The term AI PC may not be new to most of you, as we are already using AI in our computers since the release of ChatGPT in 2022. However, there is a big difference between using AI-powered tools on your computer and having an AI computer.
Currently, most of the processing that makes AI tools work happens in the cloud. For example, asking ChatGPT or Google Gemini a question, or having DALL-E or Midjourney create an image from a prompt, doesn't require any computing power on your part. It all happens on OpenAI's, Google's, or the tool's own servers, far away from you. This creates two problems: latency and vulnerability.
Because processing occurs on remote servers, commands and data take time to be received and processed, resulting in noticeable delays. Additionally, data shared with these tools must be transmitted and accessed remotely, jeopardizing its confidentiality.
Both latency and vulnerability can be solved by performing computations locally on the user's device, but traditional computers simply don't have the power to run AI models without impacting performance, battery life, and device longevity. That's where the AI PC comes in.
An AI PC is like any other traditional computer, but with an added component called a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that is dedicated to handling AI-related programs and tasks. This relieves the CPU and GPU from additional workloads, ensuring a smooth experience. Any computer with an NPU or dedicated artificial intelligence processor can be classified as an AI PC.
As advances in artificial intelligence continue to grow exponentially, traditional PCs will soon be unable to keep up with AI capabilities, leading to the emergence of PCs with dedicated AI processing capabilities.
Companies like Intel, AMD, and Microsoft are all over the place integrating artificial intelligence into their products, and PC brands are also adopting this integration into their computers.
Intel, a leading manufacturer of semiconductors and computer circuits, is calling this AI integration the biggest advancement in personal computing in the last 20 years. Its new Intel Core Ultra processors include built-in AI acceleration to efficiently distribute work between the CPU, GPU, and NPU.
This results in a significant performance boost, especially for tasks that require neural processing. Thanks to the built-in AI processing unit, computers running on this chip don't need an internet connection to run Large Language Models (LLMs) or basic AI-enabled functions. Everything runs locally on your PC, making the process faster and more secure.
AMD has joined the race with AMD Ryzen AI, the world's first dedicated AI engine for x86 computers. This AI engine enables computers to act as personal virtual assistants, generate ideas from prompts, create visualizations, and more. In addition to being an alternative to tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, this AI engine can also enhance video calls, protect against threats, and self-heal from cyber attacks.
Microsoft has also entered the AI PC market by launching its Copilot+PC series with its Surface and Surface Pro laptops, which are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips designed specifically for AI processing. Major PC brands such as ASUS, Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Acer have also adopted Copilot+PC and announced their own AI PC lineups.
These PCs come with many AI-powered features. Similar to generative AI tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, Rytr, and QuillBot, the computer can prompt you to compose an essay, social media caption, or email. Your visual content generation needs are also taken care of by built-in AI. Native AI enhances video conferencing by adjusting the background and keeping you in the center of the frame at all times, mimicking Apple's Centre Stage. Using machine learning, these PCs scan your device for malicious attacks, preventing them, and recovering from their effects.
In addition to nearly every feature that cloud-based AI tools offer, such as the ability to convert text to images, predictive text input, and visual editing, these computers also offer certain niche features that may make your life easier.
Recall is one of the features that allows users to view past actions on their device and play them like a video. The integration also enables real-time live captioning in over 40 languages. Advanced search allows users to find anything they've written, clicked, viewed, saved, or generated.
However, many of the features promised in AI PCs, except for native AI assistants, still require an internet connection. Currently, these computers mainly use artificial intelligence to speed up on-device or cloud-based tasks.
The features that AI PCs offer are niche and useful, but not revolutionary and not enough to warrant an immediate upgrade. The issue is not feasibility or ease of use. These PCs offer perks, and people have the know-how to use them. Our experience with prompt-based generative AI tools shows that going from a traditional PC to an AI PC is not as difficult as it may seem. These computers can be used like traditional PCs. If you are not comfortable with prompt-based actions, you can buy a new Microsoft Surface Pro laptop and accomplish everything without using any prompts at all.
The problem is that almost everything these PCs offer can be achieved with third-party cloud- or web-based AI tools that already exist, so the limited capabilities of these seemingly future-proof machines mean that swapping out your existing setup for an AI PC doesn't make much sense.
The real potential of AI PCs lies in future uses, not replacing your current main computer, although just like the integration of voice assistants and smartphones, there will come a day when computers without an NPU or dedicated AI engine will become obsolete, and it certainly feels like we are heading in that direction.