People long for the days when smartphones were no longer an important part of our lives. Cell phones are how we connect with friends and loved ones, get news, schedule appointments, buy groceries, and listen to music. But we also overuse our smartphones.
Humane says it hopes to change that with Ai Pin. Founded by former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, and backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Ai Pin aims to bring us a world without smartphones through the use of artificial intelligence and wearable computing.
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The Ai Pin starts at $699 and will ship in April. But before that, Bongiorno, who is also Humane’s CEO, let me watch her demo her personal Ai Pin at SXSW to dispel any doubts about the Pin and Humane’s goals.
First impression of Humane Aipin
Photo credit: Chance Townsend/Mashable
I expected to be blown away by the Ai Pin’s price tag, and while to be honest, the demo Bongiorno gave didn’t do that, I was impressed with how well it worked.
The point of Ai Pin is that it’s an artificial intelligence assistant that attaches to your dress where the corsage would be. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, you can ask it questions, play music, call/text people, and even take photos or videos. Its makers say the more you use it and tell it about yourself, the better it will learn about you and perform tasks tailored to your specific needs. It is similar in some ways to Rabbit R1, which uses a Large Action Model (LAM) to learn and interact with different applications. But for Ai Pin, there is no screen to interact with. If you need to mess around with the setup, there’s a really cool laser projector that turns the palm of your hand into a flesh-and-blood “screen.”
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Humane makes it clear that Ai Pin is not: It’s not a smartphone companion, nor is it just a ChatGPT pinned to your chest. The pin comes with a SIM card that connects it to the mobile phone network. While Pin itself is powered by GPT-4, Bongiorno made it clear that Pin doesn’t just take your queries, send them to OpenAI, and then get back to you. Instead, the device processes input locally, leveraging its own artificial intelligence framework to provide immediate, context-aware responses.
You can activate the device through voice, touch or gesture commands. Press and hold to activate the device to accept voice commands. Waving your hand in front of it will turn on the laser projector, where you can enter your password. You change the volume by sliding the pin – it then makes a mechanical scrolling noise like a mouse wheel.
The laser projection is sharp on the palm, but it’s meant for reading small amounts of text and information really quickly and quietly. If used for a long time, it will overheat. This should be a screen-free experience.
It cannot be stressed how much humanitarian organizations want you to stop using your phone.
Photo credit: Chance Townsend/Mashable
Most interactions with the pins will be done through voice commands. Ai Pin has some well-designed speakers that deliver loud and clear sound in quiet environments. Bongiorno also told us that she had no problem having a full conversation with her coworkers as she walked through a crowded airport. That doesn’t mean we all have to be held hostage by that pesky Bluetooth headphone guy—you can connect the Ai Pin to your AirPods or Bluetooth headphones.
Since most of the AI operations are done off-device, it does take some time to answer questions. When Bongiorno asked it the name of “Austin Pink Coffee Shop,” it took Ai pin 10 to 15 seconds to answer “Revival Coffee.” Will Google search be faster? Maybe, but the point is to turn off your phone.
The Ai Pin can also capture photos and short videos—always a touchy subject when it comes to wearables. Humane says it takes privacy seriously, and to that end, there will be bright lights telling everyone around you that you’ve activated the device or if you’re shooting video. “Any attempt to cover the LED light will cause the Ai Pin to stop recording immediately,” Bongiorno told me.
What’s really impressive is the camera’s ability to scan things in front of you and describe them in detail. Best of all, when you send a message, you can tell the pin what tone you want the message to have. For example, Bongiorno texted her sick daughter and told the pin to “Send Oliver a message and ask her to call me and sound like she’s Gen Z.” (Its Gen Z translation: “Hey Oliver, could you please give me a message?”) Please call me later, I want to chat. Thank you.”)
Aipin also has real-time translation function and supports more than 50 languages. Bongiorno demonstrated some Mandarin and Spanish, which allowed me to demonstrate my 300-day Duolingo streak. The pin did have a hard time picking up my voice, and it’s unclear whether that’s because I speak very low-pitched or if the microphone is directionally focused upward to pick up the wearer’s voice. Regardless, once translated, the pin will speak to you and then translate your responses back in whatever language you’re speaking to. Or, if the sound is loud, a laser can project the translation onto the palm of your hand.
While I wish I’d been able to do more real-world testing, the demo showed some practical uses for the Ai Pin. Judging from Bongiono’s live demo, the device appears to be a very late-stage proof-of-concept for the future of mobile computing. However, the existing “love products” are far from reaching the level of changing the world that humanity hopes.
Aipin can do things for me that smartphones cannot do, except that it is not a smartphone. I can already make phone calls, text messages, listen to music, and basic AI Q&A on my iPhone without spending an extra $700.
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