Bill Gates and Humane's AI Pin: AI Is The Interface

Bill Gates And Humane’s AI Pin: AI Is The Interface 22/01/24, 17:18
FORBES INNOVATION CONSUMER TECH
Bill Gates And Humane’s AI

Pin: AI Is The Interface
John Koetsier Senior Contributor
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Journalist, analyst, author, and speaker.
0 Nov 13, 2023, 11:41pm EST
Screenshot of Humane's AI Pin, a $700 AI assistant. JOHN KOETSIER
Last week Humane unveiled an AI Pin you wear on your chest

and summon when needed. At $700, the reaction to a
screenless device with no apps and a $24/month subscription
has been negative, even derogatory, and many pundits have
predicted its failure. And yes, there’s a good chance it will flop,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2023/11/13/bill-gates-and-humanes-ai-pin-ai-is-the-interface/?sh=710d9a7a4aad Page 1 of 7
but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it. Especially in the
context of some insightful words Bill Gates recently shared.
Ars Technica calls the AI Pin “a bizarre cross between Google

Glass and a pager” with a “creepy in-your-face camera.”
Business Insider says it’s “awkward” and can’t replace your
phone. TechCrunch says it “somewhat resembles Narrative
Clip, the ill-fated lifelogging camera.”
“If you’re wearing both the Humane AI pin and the Meta
Raybans and touch both at the same time, a screenshot of your
life is taken and uploaded to the cloud,” a jokester quipped on
Threads.
But at base, the AP Pin is an attempt to bring ambient

computing to the human experience. Forget the specs and
hardware capabilities: the 13MP camera, GPS, cellular
connection, accelerometer, light sensor, mic, speaker, mini-
projector for visual communication and magnetic stick-on
battery pack. The point is omnipresent AI assistance via
ChatGPT in your life, without sticking a pane of glass—or an XR
headset like Apple Vision Pro—between you and real life.
At minimum, that’s interesting. Fully explored, it might mean a

new way of integrating computing into our lives.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates talked about AI’s impact on our

devices recently via one of his less official outlets: his Reddit
account. One thing he said is that apps will die.
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“To do any task on a computer, you have to tell your device

which app to use. You can use Microsoft Word and Google Docs
to draft a business proposal, but they can’t help you send an
email, share a selfie, analyze data, schedule a party, or buy
movie tickets,” Gates wrote. “In the next five years, this will
change completely. You won’t have to use different apps for
different tasks. You’ll simply tell your device, in everyday
language, what you want to do.”
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In other words, AI is the interface.
It’s almost like Humane and Bill Gates were working together,
because Humane’s press release explains the lack of apps or an
app store this way: “An entirely new AI software framework, the
AI Bus, brings AI Pin to life and removes the need to download,
manage, or launch apps. Instead, it quickly understands what
you need, connecting you to the right AI experience or service
instantly.”
It’s an interesting idea, and it’s likely also a correct one. Apps
are an interface to accomplish a task, but the best interface is
simply doing the requested action. Star Trek’s virtual
omniscient ship AI didn’t ask Captain Picard to install an app
when he asked a question, and while ChatGPT has plugins and
now allows subscribers to create vertical-focused versions of
itself, it doesn’t have apps per se. An app to order a pizza is
significantly more friction than just asking Siri or Google or
Alexa or ChatGPT to get it done.
Smartphones have been the most disruptive and powerful way

to bring the power of computing into virtually every aspect of
our lives. But the interface they’ve been given—the pane of
glass, the grid of apps—has guided that evolution as much as it
has enabled it.
Three years ago I suggested that Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa

would be an AI abstraction layer over apps. And I warned app
developers that AI assistants were an existential danger to apps’
existence. It remains as much a warning to brands that rely on
mobile apps to connect to their customers as to developers:
“In the stone ages of mobile a couple of years ago, you actually
had to tap on an app icon and open an app in order to access its
functionality,” I wrote. “While backwards, onerous, and tedious,
this ensured that if I was ordering Air Jordans from Shoe Giant
#1 or a Big Mac from Ronald McDonald, I would have at least a
couple of interactions with the Nike brand or McDonalds ...
today, Google announced that “Hey Google” is the new front
door to your app’s functionality.”
The Humane AI Pin is an attempt to usher in something like

that reality.
It’s likely fatally flawed, however, in costing as much as the

smartphone it wants to replace, while providing significantly
less functionality. As a computer—even one held in your hand—
a smartphone is a general-purpose machine, adaptable to
precisely Humane’s goals with the AI Pin, while retaining
additional functionality thanks to its screen and other
capabilities. Humane’s AI Pin is a computer, too, even if one
that offloads much of its compute and intelligence to the cloud
in the form of ChatGPT, but its use cases are more limited
because its input and output modalities are much more limited.
Whereas you can only tap and talk to the AI Pin, you can do
both on a smartphone, and you can (multi)touch with much
higher fidelity and confidence. Both device classes allow visual
input via cameras, but only one has multiple cameras facing
multiple directions. And while you can project some green text
onto your hand or surface with the AI Pin, your smartphone’s
screen is clearly much more capable.
None of which is to say the AI Pin is useless or even bad. In fact,

for the use cases the Humane team has identified—getting less
trapped in our smartphones, and participating more in real life
—the AI Pin’s simplifications could even be a positive.
But when people are deciding on a device to buy, most won’t

buy the smartphone and the AI Pin. They’re more likely to buy
the device that does the essentials—a smartphone—and not also
get the expensive and less-functional AI companion.
But Humane’s new tech is probably telling us something about

the future development of smartphones and other devices, and
not just its own current first iteration of an AI Pin.
“Agents are not only going to change how everyone interacts

with computers,” Bill Gates wrote just a few days ago, talking
about smart AI helpers. “They’re also going to upend the
software industry, bringing about the biggest revolution in
computing since we went from typing commands to tapping on
icons.”
If we remember that iOS and Android are platforms, and apps

are the things we load onto those platforms, this changes
everything.
“Agents will be the next platform,” Gates says.
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out my website or some of my other work here.
John Koetsier Follow
I'm an entrepreneur, founder, and writer. I've raised seed and series A
funds, built websites and apps, and written a science fiction novel. After
five years of full-time tech... Read More
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Bill Gates And Humane’s AI Pin: AI Is The Interface 22/01/24, 17:18

FORBES INNOVATION CONSUMER TECH

Bill Gates And Humane’s AI

0 Nov 13, 2023, 11:41pm EST

Screenshot of Humane's AI Pin, a $700 AI assistant. JOHN KOETSIER

Last week Humane unveiled an AI Pin you wear on your chest

Ars Technica calls the AI Pin “a bizarre cross between Google

But at base, the AP Pin is an attempt to bring ambient

At minimum, that’s interesting. Fully explored, it might mean a

Microsoft founder Bill Gates talked about AI’s impact on our

MORE FROM FORBES ADVISOR

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of

Best 5% Interest Savings Accounts of

“To do any task on a computer, you have to tell your device

Forbes Daily: Get our best stories, exclusive reporting and

Email address Sign Up

In other words, AI is the interface.

Smartphones have been the most disruptive and powerful way

Three years ago I suggested that Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa

door to your app’s functionality.”

The Humane AI Pin is an attempt to usher in something like

It’s likely fatally flawed, however, in costing as much as the

None of which is to say the AI Pin is useless or even bad. In fact,

But when people are deciding on a device to buy, most won’t

get the expensive and less-functional AI companion.

But Humane’s new tech is probably telling us something about

“Agents are not only going to change how everyone interacts

If we remember that iOS and Android are platforms, and apps

“Agents will be the next platform,” Gates says.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check

John Koetsier Follow

Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions

Join Our Conversation

Commenting on this article

Powered by Terms | Privacy | Feedback

Stay informed with your Forbes membership. News, insight,

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