The future of AI is physical

The following article written by Star VP of Strategy, Kim Darling S?rensen, appeared in the May 2024 edition of our monthly newsletter Star Radar.?

Generative AI is (rightfully so) being labeled as the next big computing platform, and most people think of it as a digital platform that we access through our laptops and smartphones.

Yet we’re seeing a surge of generative AI manifesting itself in other hardware form factors such as eyewear, pendants, pins, robots and handheld devices. Even the ‘traditional’ form factors are being re-envisioned as AI-first devices, from app-less smartphones to laptops running on-device AI models.

The trajectory we’re on suggests that voice and vision will become the interface for AI, and AI will become the interface for our digital lives. If that’s the case, then we won’t be tied to traditional form factors, and possibly not even apps. This opens up a world of possibilities that we’ve long fantasized about in sci-fi universes, which now seems entirely plausible.?

To turn these fantasies into reality, several things need to happen.

Seamless integration of hardware and software. Recent high-profile product launches from well-funded startups have suffered from objectively poor reviews. Incumbents will likely do well, but we need new companies with new thinking to push the limits of what’s possible.

AI needs to be freed from the cloud. This requires both better small language models with lower requirements for memory and compute power, as well as system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed for on-device AI. Fortunately, these advancements are on the horizon.

New business models for an app-less future. If apps don’t exist or play a less prominent role in AI devices, companies need incentives to make their software and services available behind the scenes. We’re already seeing this play out in a different context, with the limitations of the current copyright system in compensating content creators for generative AI tools accessing their content.

Techno-optimists would likely declare that we’re on the verge of realizing the sci-fi life of AI devices all around us. Others would claim that we’ve been dreaming of this new AI-centric life for decades without ever reaching it, so why would this time be any different. To me, the truth is likely somewhere in between those extremes.

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