No sugar coat. Standalone AI devices have failed worse than the Hindenburg. It's not ready for primetime, so to speak. The jury is still out on AI for smartphones. But the show must go on. So here's one more AI pin that will have Marques Brownlee's hair falling out when it officially launches.
By limiting its scope, the Plaud NotePin may solve some of the problems that have plagued its competitors: It doesn't bill itself as a digital assistant to streamline every aspect of modern life — it's a note-taking device, albeit one with some AI features.
NotePin automatically records and transcribes conversations, and that's pretty much it. I think this is useful for students and can eliminate the cruel punishment of “taking notes.” The same goes for people who are trapped in endless meetings.
The AI works in a variety of ways. For starters, the device isn't limited to English: Ping can transcribe and translate 59 languages, with more on the way. It also pays attention to context to properly name each speaker and summarize their talk into something like a script.
Finally, there's an AI analytics component that summarises it all. This data is accessible through a chat window, allowing you to ask specific questions about the dozens of conversations you had while wearing the pin.
Proud
The NotePin is small and lightweight, and the company claims it weighs about the same as an AA battery. This form factor means you can stick it anywhere and it won't be as noticeable as the hot and heavy Humane AI pins. It's available for preorder now, and is priced at a very reasonable $170, although if you want to record more than 300 minutes of audio per month, you'll need to pay $80 for a yearly subscription.
But we're not done yet. Here's where it gets weird. This is just the company's first step in a grander plan: In an interview with Wired, Proud said he hopes to one day use all those recordings to create a “digital twin” of each user.
“One day we'll be able to leverage AI to recreate ourselves and create a true digital twin. That's kind of an ambitious mission, and we think it'll be amazing if we can help users connect with more memories,” said Plaud CEO Nathan Hsu.
But Hsu says this dream may take “decades” to come true, which makes him more realistic than other AI companies, at least: “I don't want a digital twin. Just me is enough.”
But for now, we have NotePin. I see no reason why it wouldn't work (almost) as advertised, and I don't see why I would need it when I already carry around a computer with a microphone that has built-in software that lets me easily do everything NotePin can do. Shrug.
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