The big, impossible picture of AI threats and problems has drowned out the real conquest of AI. In the background, an ocean of AI devices is making its way to the mainstream largely without warning.
The last time this happened was after World War II, when unprecedented new gizmos wiped out pre-war technologies. It was consumer grade stuff that completely wiped out the lifestyle of that era in the 1950s.
It is already here in embryonic form. The deluge of AI devices is coming on a much larger scale with increased scope and depth. only search for “AI Devices” and press Shopping. From autonomous AI robot companions to robot stoves, magic mirrors for instant health assessments, robot dogs, actual robots and even heavy-lifting industrial robot arms, it’s an explosive vocabulary of gadgets.
It looks a lot like one of those old future cartoons, with automated kitsch doing everything and a few humans sprinkled around for novelty’s sake. You can cringe and laugh at the same time while watching YouTube reviews. Apparently, opening new tabs in a browser is now the equivalent of manual labor, and AI can do it for you. Absurdities are not too hard to find. Keep in mind that whatever you’re seeing will be out of date next year.
Current commercial applications for AI devices
Many of these devices will look very familiar from pre-AI iterations. There are augmented reality glasses with built-in AI, translation and more. There is also many wearable devices with AIfrom enhanced headsets to upgraded headsets to ubiquitous cloud-connected artificial intelligence bots for all purposes and enigmatic rings of AI health.
It also seems extremely disorganized to the point of being downright chaotic from a purely commercial perspective. Many of these devices are still at the barely Kickstarter level of development. Companies you’ve never heard of are aiming high and creating markets for their products.
Things are very different further up the food chain. Other commercial entities are far more popular, such as the first major league AI agent programs Microsoft Solara, supposedly the next phase in computing. This is a sort of multifaceted evolution of Copilot and Microsoft 365, moving AI “from the app framework to out of the app.” This is how it runs many applications, connections and workflows.
All of Google’s consumer AI devices look pretty familiaras if AI is being plugged into existing hardware. Google’s homepage for AI products looks much more ambitious and has a much wider market reach and range.
New distribution, licensing and emerging markets
Seemingly lost in the all-encompassing blur is a new market reality. Google and Microsoft can simply license their AI to manufacturers. Their AI agents can act as point of sale for new products and add-ons. Would a Google agent recommend Gemini or related products?
This very predictable level of “market incest” has some less obvious positives. Artificial intelligence needs to work with AI and almost anything on the market to do its job. Cross-platform incompatibilities are simply not an option. AI agents can also request specs based on requirements, adding an almost wild card to the mix. Sanity can happen, whether one likes it or not.
Therefore, AI devices will have to be quite cosmopolitan in their operations. This can produce some interesting scenarios.
What if a high-level AI agent finds himself dealing with a museum-like array of tasks involving types and classes of old “whatever” technology?
Where do AI device productivity metrics come from and how do you get them on a balance sheet?
Do you use Software as a Service (SaaS) for standard-issue AI devices in organizations?
Do you need a dedicated neural network for your business?
How do you choose, mix and match AI agents in a business device context, or do you get a one-size-fits-all option?
This is already turning into one Parkinson’s Law Equationexcept in this case, work is the extension of the work required to perform the work. In fact, new markets are creating new markets.
AI hardware issues may be an unsolved minefield in the future
Of course, there are problems. AI overview of AI device problems it is nothing but soothing. It’s like the Internet of Things, cubed and closely related to the Internet of Things in practice.
The expected problems are mostly AI based. “Algorithmic hallucinations, data privacy leaks, algorithmic bias, and security vulnerabilities” are built-in, general issues of AI. However, with AI devices, these problems take on an additional, possibly deadly, dimension.
AI devices in direct contact with humans, and especially human health issues, can be terrifyingly complex. Security is the first natural barrier for devices. A disclaimer will not work in this extremely sensitive environment.
It’s a very tough call in the business context. A “possible lawsuit with any customer” is an unacceptable level of risk with few rewards. Whether you’re using an MRI, AI glasses, or a stovetop, AI hardware is the big deal for users.
The quality of the technology is the main determining factor here. It is highly debatable whether life support healthcare sectors can manage much uncertainty in device performance.
Add to this the fact that every aspect of human interaction, from sensor calibration to interpretation by AI or human agents, is at stake. An AI device may be required as evidence.
There’s another giant irony here, and no one seems to have noticed. In the Age of Disruption, AI tools can be perfect for assessing compliance with any number of consumer laws.
Imagine this conversation:
“Isn’t there supposed to be at least some food in this product?”
“Um, ah, I think so.”
“According to this test, it’s 90% glue, 5% unidentified gunpowder, and 5% low-fat cement.”
“Oh.”
You can apply that motif to anything from property boundaries to product contract specifications to analyzing a restaurant meal to finding your house keys, and it’s not that far off. of the first Star Trek tricorder was envisioned as a sensor-based analytical tool.
AI tools can do this. All they need is proper calibration.
Just make a point to watch the evolution of AI devices to see what happens next.
