Much has already been written about OpenAI’s acquisition of io – an AI device startup founded by former Apple design guru Jony Ive. This is a significant expansion of the work io has already been doing with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, to create AI-focussed devices. But I think they are missing the point. People don’t want AI-focussed devices. They want devices where the AI is unobtrusive.
Let’s think about cars. Back when I was a lad, air-conditioning was an expensive extra. Some people I know had air conditioning units retro-fitted into existing vehicles while other purchased cars where the air-con was neatly integrated into vehicle. The retro-fitted units were ugly, clunky and not very efficient. Today you cannot buy a car without air-con.
AI is undergoing a similar journey. There’s an entire class of products where the AI has been clumsily smooshed into the existing product. I see this especially in enterprise computing equipment. And I see other examples where the AI has been integrated reasonably well into the software. This is one area where Google has outpaced Apple.
Apple is continuing its own journey to integrating AI into its products. If I carry my air-con analogy a little further, Apple is building a completely new type of air-conditioning system and trying to integrate it into an existing vehicle.
The problem is that no-one buys the air-con system and then wonders what car it will go into. Building a device that starts with AI as its focus is doomed to fail – just ask Humane with its deeply flawed AI Pin.
The work being done by all the different companies and individuals to improve AI will bear fruit. But it won’t be in the form of ‘AI devices’. The fruit will be in how AI seamlessly integrates into the products and services we use.
At best, OpenAI’s acquisition of io will result in prototype services and applications that will be integrated into other devices. But the idea that people will carry or use a device that has a primary purpose of bringing an AI service along is flawed. It’s the equivalent of building an air-conditioner that we lug around from car to car.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.