A novel line of PCs specifically designed to run artificial intelligence programs hit stores on Tuesday, as tech companies push for broader adoption of ChatGPT-style artificial intelligence.
Microsoft in May announced novel AI-powered personal computers that will employ the company’s software under the Copilot Plus brand.
The idea is to allow users to access AI capabilities on their devices without relying on the cloud, which requires more power, takes more time, and makes using AI more clunky.
Computers are equipped with a neural processing unit (NPU) that helps provide clearer photo editing, live transcription, translation, and a recall feature that allows the computer to keep track of everything that is happening on the device.
However, Microsoft removed the Recall option at the last minute due to privacy concerns and stated that they would only make it available as a test feature.
For now, devices built by hardware makers like HP and ASUS run exclusively on a novel line of processors called SnapDragon X Elite and Plus, built by California chip giant Qualcomm.
“We are redefining what a laptop actually does for the end user,” Qualcomm senior vice president Durga Malladi told AFP at the Collision technology conference in Toronto.
“We believe this is the rebirth of personal computing.”
At its May launch, Microsoft predicted that more than 50 million of these “AI computers” would be sold within 12 months, given the appetite for ChatGPT’s capabilities.
Best Buy, the US retail giant, said it has trained tens of thousands of employees to sell and maintain its novel line of personal computers.
Some industry experts are more hesitant, predicting the real benefits of upgrading a laptop to AI is not yet convincing enough and will require more time.
“The evolutionary characteristics of artificial intelligence are not revolutionary enough to disrupt time-honored purchasing patterns,” Forrester analysts said.
“For most IT workers, there are not enough game-changing applications in their daily work to enable rapid adoption of AI-enabled PCs.”
Since ChatGPT’s launch in slow 2022, Microsoft has aggressively rolled out generative AI products, bringing novel AI features to a variety of products including Teams, Outlook, and Windows.
Feeling the pressure, Google quickly followed suit, and Apple jumped into the game earlier this month, announcing that its own on-device AI features would be rolled out to premium iPhones in the coming months and year.
The latest MacBooks and iPads already support high-performance AI features, but Apple has been slower to highlight these capabilities.
“I think we missed the idea of calling it an AI PC,” Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, recently joked about the latest generation of MacBook.
Recall tracks internet browsing down to voice calls, creating a history stored on the computer that the user can search when they want to remember something they did, even months later. Recall will now only be available in preview through the Windows Insider Program (WIP) in the coming weeks, and will not be generally available to Copilot+ desktop users on June 18, Microsoft said in a blog post.
The iPhone maker outlined the plans during a keynote speech at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, showcasing artificial intelligence features for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Apple is not paying OpenAI as part of the partnership, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the terms of the deal are private. Apple, on the other hand, benefits from offering consumers a sophisticated chatbot that can encourage users to spend more time on their devices or even consider upgrades.
