- In quick succession, the announcement of two new types of AI-based digital products rocked the tech world.
- Thus, Humane Company’s AI Pin and Rabbit Inc. The Rabbit R1 from Rabbit suggests a near future where we can do without our smartphones.
- This will undoubtedly be the case, some experts believe, and certainly within ten years at the most.
Cold snap on the telephone. The successive announcements of the AI pin from the company Humane and the Rabbit R1 from the start-up Rabbit Inc, two small devices that, thanks to AI, allow us to break free from our smartphones, had an impact. Bolt out of the blue into the tech planet. Are our iPhones and other Samsung Galaxy in our pockets about to be replaced by new products whose features we already recognize? For knowledge, 20 minutes asked Damian Duany, an expert on innovations, cultures and the use of digital technologies, and Florent Roullier, innovation manager at digital transformation consulting company Niji.
Two visions of the future
“There is a race to reinvent the smartphone, there is a desire to imagine what will come next,” immediately launches Damian Duany, an expert on innovation, culture and the use of digital technology. Smartphone production declines (-19.5% in 2023, according to TrendForce, to 250 million units); The technology has reached a certain maturity (even if Samsung’s new Galaxy S24s are innovative); The growth of the reconditioned market (one in five smartphones sold in France is second-hand)… too many indicators to greenlight the succession. Not forgetting AI.
“AI presents a great opportunity for these changes and these are two visions of the future. First, bringing the screen closer to our eyes. After cinema, television and smartphone screens, it’s time for headsets like Apple Vision Pro or glasses like Meta’s Ray Ban Stories, which want to bring information closer to our eyes. Another direction: retract the screen or make it invisible. It’s something that fits more into our environment and our context,” according to Damian Duane.
For Florent Roullier of the private company, “The AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 really offer an alternative to a smartphone, rather than a complementary device, such as Smartwatch ” Above all, according to him, “the advantage of these devices is that, thanks to them, we will recover seven hours of life every day! ” Or the amount of time some people spend on their screens every day. Thus, by interacting vocally with artificial intelligence, we will be able to reclaim a part of our lives…
Jarvis’ Theorem
“These new devices are just a few of what I call Jarvis’ theorems, an artificial intelligence always available by our side and we call on it whenever we need it, like Tony Stark does in Iron Man,” notes Damian Duane for his part. do The expert emphasizes the fact that, undoubtedly, within ten years, this notion of pervasive information, constantly with us, but invisible, which we will soon call out of necessity, will be a reality for most of us.
“In this, Rabbit R1 is the first step: an intelligent super agent that understands me and is able to bring the answer to my question back into its net,” adds Damian Duany. Who adds: “The Human AI Pin is more expensive ($699 instead of $199 for the Rabbit R1), more forward-looking, and more Apple. Style. It’s even more disruptive, sexy and exciting with a product in the shape of a pin, which I carry with me, that captures my environment, communicates with me and projects information into the palm of my hand. Wow effect guaranteed.
Without screens, what would we do?
Therefore, it is okay to have constant access to information, without searching for it, but only by asking for it by voice. But can we do without a pocket screen, whether just to play or watch videos? “The AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 are not designed for entertainment or to go on social networks. This is where we see the limits of the two propositions. But the challenge of their designers, Human and Rabbit Inc., is also to say that people are slaves to their smartphones and we must return to a certain form of purity,” explains Damien Duaney, an expert in innovations, cultures and uses of digital technology.
Towards virtual digital partners, such as in film her
“These products of the future are also for people who want to free themselves from the harmful influence of smartphones,” confirms Florent Roullier, innovation manager at Niji. For him, “they form a real alternative, even if they meet some of the uses with AI.”
No doubt our smartphones (which appeared sixteen years ago, remember) still have about ten years of life ahead of them. Still, “knowing how far we’re willing to go to trust a machine will be the real adoption. The switch will be there. Will there ever be a time when I want to take back control, so that my privacy is better than this thing constantly feeding on my data? », asks Damian Duani.
Until we move closer to virtual digital partners with whom we will have a human relationship. “We are not far from it, maybe in two years,” confirms Florent Roullier. For him, “all the techno bricks exist for this and companies are working to assemble them and create human interactions for their tools, like in the film. her By Spike Jonze. AI Pin, Rabbit R1… or robots, it will then be up to us to figure out how to take advantage of it. To become their masters or their slaves.
