One More AI 2024 Trend: The Race for General AI-enabled Devices Begins, with Apple Poised for a Strong Comeback

2024 marks another pivotal moment in tech, with a new trend emerging: embedding generative AI into consumer devices. This shift signifies a radical change in how we interact with AI, moving it closer to our daily lives and routines. The race is on among companies to blend AI seamlessly into our devices, heralding a new era of personal technology.

At the forefront of this curious dance of technology and fashion is the Pin, a nifty little device that perches over your heart like a futuristic brooch. Born from the minds of ex-Apple geniuses, the Pin is part AI assistant, part fashion statement, and entirely ambitious. Powered by ChatGPT, it's eyeing your smartphone's job, hoping to make it obsolete. The Pin responds to your voice, acknowledges your touch, and can even turn your palm into a screen with its laser ink display. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, right? Well, hold your horses. The Pin, priced at a wallet-wincing $699 plus a $24 monthly subscription, isn't just battling technology limitations but also public skepticism. It's set to ship in March 2024, so the jury's still out.

But the Pin isn't alone in this race. Meet the Tab, another torso-worn AI assistant, this time from the mind of Avi Schiffmann. It's got its own AI, but here's the twist – it listens in on your conversations, hoping to be a better helper. Sounds a bit Orwellian, doesn't it? With only 100 units in its first edition, the Tab is a rare bird and might find it tough to compete with the more established AI like the one powering the Pin.

And then there are the AI Glasses, a brainchild of Ray-Ban and Meta. They're like your regular stylish Ray-Bans but with a techie twist – a built-in camera, a microphone array, and speakers that rival top-notch earbuds. "Hey Meta" is your key to a world of instant answers, streamed right from your phone. It's a gadget that feels eerily reminiscent of Google Glass, and one can't help but wonder if it'll share a similar fate.

Lastly, there's the Rewind Pendant by RewindAI. This one's a bit different. It records and summarizes your life, making it a sort of AI-powered journal that you wear around your neck. Unlike its more ambitious counterparts, the Rewind Pendant seems to have its feet on the ground with a clear and achievable promise.

As exciting as these gadgets sound, none have hit the market yet. 2024 is shaping up to be a battleground for these AI-infused devices, each vying for a spot in our daily lives. And while these new kids on the block are gearing up, the big guns in consumer electronics are certainly not napping. It's a bloodbath that's just beginning, and who knows where it will lead?

Chipmakers are Paving the Way for AI-enabled Devices in 2024

In the grand tech theater of 2024, chipmakers are the unsung heroes, quietly engineering the future of AI-enabled devices. Intel is poised to make a splash with its Meteor Lake Core Ultra chips, not just any chips, mind you, but ones boasting an AI co-processor. This little marvel aims to make laptops smarter, and more efficient, and possibly even challenge Apple's famed MacBooks in the marathon of battery life. It's Intel's way of waving a flag for AI in the everyday computing realm, a sort of technological high-five to the eagerly awaited Windows 12.

Not to be outdone, AMD is also riding the AI wave with its Ryzen 7000 mobile processors. These chips come equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), a brainy sidekick that promises to give computational tasks and user interfaces a significant boost. AMD's move isn't just about keeping up with the competition; it's part of a larger shift in the laptop world toward embracing AI at its core.

As Intel and AMD lock horns, their 2024 offerings are set to transform laptops and desktops, equipping them with dedicated AI co-processors. This isn't just about faster computers; it's about making them smarter, and more intuitive. Imagine if Windows' AI Copilot isn't just a fancy feature but a genuinely useful tool, opening doors to AI-powered apps and games that we've only dreamed of.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm isn't sitting this dance out. They're stepping into the ring with their Snapdragon X Elite CPU, aimed squarely at Apple's CPUs. With bold claims of outperforming Apple in typical and AI workloads, Qualcomm's entry also sports a dedicated NPU, adding another exciting chapter to the Arm-powered device saga.

While these giants are carving out their territories in the AI-enhanced device landscape, there's another player, a sort of tech enigma, straddling the line between device creation and component manufacturing. This company is now beginning to make its presence felt, hinting at yet another twist in the ever-evolving tale of AI in our gadgets.

After a Year of Silence, Apple is Finally Moving into the AI Space

Apple has been biding its time, quietly orchestrating its foray into the AI space. After a year of relative silence, 2024 appears to be the year Apple throws its hat into the AI ring, unveiling its unique blend of innovation and strategy.

Apple's collaboration with Cornell University has given birth to Ferret, an open-source multimodal large language model (MLLM). This isn't just any AI – Ferret has the knack for analyzing specific bits of an image to answer queries with remarkable context and relevance. Imagine pointing at an animal in a photo and asking what it is – Ferret can not only identify the creature but also tell you what it's up to, using the surrounding image context.

Now, here's my opinion: it's believed that Apple, with its vast resources, indeed has the computational muscle to support Ferret. Yet, they chose the path of open-sourcing. Why? It's possible this is a strategic maneuver, a smokescreen of sorts, while Apple covertly develops other, more advanced LLMs in its secretive tech-laden corridors. This could be a classic Apple strategy – revealing one hand while the other prepares to unveil a game-changing surprise.

But Apple's AI ambitions don't stop there. They're pioneering AI models specifically crafted for iPhones, tackling the challenge of running sophisticated AI on devices with less memory. Apple's researchers have been busy bees, delving into two fascinating studies. The first is about running large language models on memory-constrained devices like iPhones, using flash memory innovatively for AI processing. The second study introduces the "Human Gaussian Splats" (HUGS) system, a creative venture into transforming video clips into detailed 3D models – a potential game-changer for VR and other digital realms.

This surge of AI research is a testament to Apple's silent yet potent AI endeavors. While they may have skipped the 2023 generative AI bandwagon, their integrated ecosystem – spanning CPUs and GPUs for both PCs and smartphones – sets the stage for a potential leapfrog over competitors. Particularly in smartphones, Apple could be the first to integrate a fully functional LLM, a significant edge in a market where timing is everything. OpenAI's success is a prime example of the power of first-mover advantage in the generative AI arena.

As 2024 dawns, we're on the cusp of a generative AI device revolution, and Apple, with its blend of innovation and cautious strategy, stands at a crossroads. Will they seize the moment and lead the charge, especially in the mobile device sphere? Or will they revert to their traditional wait-and-see approach? The upcoming Apple event in March/April 2024 is poised to be a revelation, a moment of truth in the rapidly evolving narrative of AI in our lives.