“People will look at this and say, 'Is that all?…It's that simple.'”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has this to say about how people will react when they see the company's upcoming AI hardware devices for the first time.
The device is the result of a collaboration between OpenAI and former Apple chief designer Jony Ive. Not much is known about the product yet, other than rumors that it's “screenless” and pocket-sized.
Earlier this year, OpenAI acquired Ive's design startup io to bring AI to the masses through some kind of tech gadget. This weekend, Altman and Ive expanded on their vision for their AI device in an interview led by Laurene Powell Jobs at Emerson Collective's 9th Annual Demo Day in San Francisco.
OpenAI hasn't revealed any details about the device, which is currently a prototype, but Ive and Altman were keen to describe the product in terms of its “atmosphere.”
Most notably, Altman compared the device to the iPhone and called Apple's smartphone “the greatest achievement in a consumer product” to date. He said he can define his life as before the iPhone and after.
But Altman complained that modern technology is full of distractions.
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“Using current devices and most applications makes me feel like I'm walking through Times Square in New York, only to constantly deal with small humiliations along the way. People bump into me like lights flashing in my face or noises, and it's disturbing,” he said. Bright flashing notifications and dopamine-chasing social apps are where Altman believes today's devices go wrong.
“I don't think it just makes our lives peaceful and calm and focused on ourselves,” he said.
Altman, on the other hand, notes that the atmosphere of an AI device is “like sitting in the most beautiful cabin by a lake or in the mountains and just enjoying the peace and quiet.”
The devices he described need to be able to filter things on your behalf, because users will trust AI to do things for them over time. You also need to know, in context, when is the best time to present information and prompt users for input.
“Over time, you become more reliable, and it gives you incredible situational awareness for your whole life,” Altman added.
I confirmed at the event that this device should be launched within two years.
“I love solutions that can seem almost naive in their simplicity,” Ive said in an interview with Powell Jobs. “And I also love products that are incredibly intelligent and sophisticated. Products that you want to touch, that don't feel intimidating, that you want to use almost casually, without really thinking about them as just tools,” he said.