Why I'm Not Getting a Humane AI Pin

I should be all about the new Humane AI pin. But I’m not, and I think it’s worth thinking through why that is.

First, it’s a pin you wear all day, activate with your finger, and then give commands like you would give your OS or an assistant. Like reading and sending texts, getting the latest news, looking up information, etc.

It’s honestly really cool.

So why don’t I like it?

Thinking about it for a while this last week I realized it’s because it confuses multiple different problems.

1. Problem 1: We should be able to ask for things instead of having to do them ourselves.

2. Problem 2: We shouldn’t have to take our phones out of our pockets to do cool phone stuff like display things.

3. Problem 3: We shouldn’t have to remember things. AI should just capture everything that happens around us and create summaries and be able to recall things if we need them.

The Humane AI pin seems to solve Problem 2, but I don’t have Problem 2. I have Problem 1 and Problem 3.

Problem 1 is being addressed by AI being added to our operating systems, like the fact that Apple is currently working to build GenAI into everything.

Problem 3 is being addressed by awesome companies like Rewind, which basically record everything and create searchable knowledge that you can interact with via AI.

Also very cool. Not sure I trust the security enough to record my screen 24/7, but it’s cool.

But replacing my phone? When I know this type of AI is being built into iOS and macOS very soon?

I am afraid products in the Problem 2 space are going to end up being fads. Doesn’t mean they’re not super innovative and awesome.

I just think more people have problems 1 and 3 than problem 2.

NOTES

1. The Tab device also looks super interesting, with a similar approach to Rewind.