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Tech brands are forcing AI into your gadgets—whether you asked for it or not (arstechnica.com)

submitted 9 months ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

54 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Earlier this year, Microsoft added a new key to Windows keyboards for the first time since 1994. Before the news dropped, your mind might’ve raced with the possibilities and potential usefulness of a new addition. However, the button ended up being a Copilot launcher button that doesn’t even work in an innovative way.

Logitech announced a new mouse last week. I was disappointed to learn that the most distinct feature of the Logitech Signature AI Edition M750 is a button located south of the scroll wheel. This button is preprogrammed to launch the ChatGPT prompt builder, which Logitech recently added to its peripherals configuration app Options+.

Similarly to Logitech, Nothing is trying to give its customers access to ChatGPT quickly. In this case, access occurs by pinching the device. This month, Nothing announced that it "integrated Nothing earbuds and Nothing OS with ChatGPT to offer users instant access to knowledge directly from the devices they use most, earbuds and smartphones."

In the gaming world, for example, MSI announced this year a monitor with a built-in NPU and the ability to quickly show League of Legends players when an enemy from outside of their field of view is arriving.

Another example is AI Shark's vague claims. This year, it announced technology that brands could license in order to make an "AI keyboard," "AI mouse," "AI game controller" or "AI headphones." The products claim to use some unspecified AI tech to learn gaming patterns and adjust accordingly.

Despite my pessimism about the droves of AI marketing hype, if not AI washing, likely to barrage the next couple of years of tech announcements, I have hope that consumer interest and common sense will yield skepticism that stops some of the worst so-called AI gadgets from getting popular or misleading people.

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[–] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.world 123 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Like when tech companies forced "Cloud" everything upon us in the early 2010's, and then the digital home assistant craze that followed after.

These things are not meant for us. Sure some people will enjoy or benefit from them in some way, but their primary function is to appease shareholders and investors and drum up cash. It's why seemingly every company is desperately looking for ways to shoehorn "AI" into their products even if it's completely nonsensical.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 52 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

I disagree. I believe that our interactions with AI represent a breakthrough in the level of data surveillance capitalism can obtain from us.

AI isn't the product. The users are. AI just makes the data that users provide more valuable. Soon enough, every user will be discussing their most personal thoughts and feelings with big brother.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 24 points 9 months ago

Data collection is theft. Every one of us is being robbed at least $50 per year. That's how Facebook and Google are worth billions.

[–] Murdoc@sh.itjust.works 9 points 9 months ago

Ever play Deus Ex: Invisible War? Yeah, they did that in there. A ubiquitous series of holoprojectors allowing you to seemingly interact with a particular pop star, who is super friendly and easily form a relationship with, turns out to be a sophisticated ai surveillance network doing exactly what you said. It even screws you over if you reveal too much to it.

[–] Kroxx@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago

Yeah strongly agree on companies just using AI as a buzzword to make investors excited. Tech companies that aren't throwing AI in things have a higher chance of their stock price stagnating

[–] metallic_substance@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

At the time the cloud stuff was first being talked about, I worked a a large tech company (one of the top 10 largest). I remember being told by managers and above how important it was and how we should start thinking about how to integrate it into every facet of our products and workplace. The CEO railed on this as well, tying KPIs to it at all levels of the business. This company makes all kinds products in the realm of hardware and software. Everyone went absolutely apeshit integrating everywhere, including A LOT of places it didn't belong

[–] SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip 8 points 9 months ago

"AI" motorcycles are apparently also somehow hot in trade shows. But the entire purpose of getting on a motorcycle is to get out and ride and enjoy the ride yourself.

[–] fidodo@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The cloud buzzword was the dumbest thing ever. The cloud is an infrastructure technique for deploying server resources. It has zero end user impact. It made certain features easier to deploy and develop for software companies, but there is nothing fundamentally different in the experience the cloud provides vs a traditional server. Outside of the industry, the term means fucking nothing to users and the way it was used was just synonymous with the Internet in general. If your file is hosted on the cloud or a centralized server makes no difference to the end user and there would be no way to tell how it was hosted in a UI.

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah but it gave us the "cloud to butt" browser extension

[–] Kiernian@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

They forced cloud on us so they could do the same nickel-and-dime billing that webhosts used for cpu cycles/ram/storage...

...because it's lucrative as hell when taken to a grand scale.

But there are sometimes side benefits for us.

I, for one, am over the moon levels of happy that I will never spend another weekend patching Exchange servers.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Can I get the list of things that are in my smartphone because we asked for them?