this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/2686042

Humane AI Pin: much-hyped gadget rocked by bad reviews

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/technology by /u/BubblyMcnutty on 2024-04-17 10:40:02.

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[–] xodoh74984 122 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

Who exactly was hyped about this?

Personally, I typically want my interactions with technology to be quiet. I don't want it talking, and I don't want to be talking to it.

Not to mention the privacy implications of an always-on camera and microphone connected to the internet

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago

Yeah i don't know. From everything i ever read or seen about it month ago, everyone seemed to agree that it's proper shit.

[–] Buffalox 25 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

Who exactly was hyped about this?

IDK Trekkies maybe? Except it's shaped wrong, and beaming up doesn't work.
If they manage that, maybe there's a market. 😋

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Snotty beamed me twice last night.

[–] popekingjoe 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] SirSamuel 9 points 7 months ago

All right, I'll take a shot at it. What the hell, it works on Star Trek.

[–] Diplomjodler3 9 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I'd buy one. Unless beaming is a subscription, of course.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

The whole thing required a subscription.

[–] SlopppyEngineer 4 points 7 months ago

bluetooth enabled comm badges are already available and not that big of a success.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Do keep in mind the microphone is only on when you touch the touchpad, this device doesn't use "wake words" like Alexa, Google Assistant, etc

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago (4 children)

One of few good aspects about it, but only if you don't think about it too much. The question remains is if you can actually trust this, because there is no physical button disconnecting microphone and camera. It's all just in software and could be unsafe.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

That's the case for every phone except that one model with hardware switches

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

You can make the camera blind with a sticker or one of those slidey cover things, although it's much more annoying since that fad of cut outs for cameras has started.

Also, like I said in the other comment, my phone isn't attached to my chest like a body cam and constantly in a position to film everything in the room. If the NSA wants to see my feet, the ceiling or my face, they are free to do so.

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[–] blattrules 55 points 7 months ago (6 children)

I could have told them this was a dumb idea from the start; creating something that doesn’t fill a need, is just another device to carry around and could just be an app on a phone that we already carry around, just to cram it down people’s throats “because AI,” is probably not a good business plan.

[–] RupeThereItIs 26 points 7 months ago

Because AI is the new because blockchain.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

It got funded to the tune of $240m. Which was probably about as far as they thought this through.

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[–] Ydna 15 points 7 months ago (1 children)

... and require a subscription too!

[–] blattrules 9 points 7 months ago

Wow, I didn’t even realize that it requires a $24.99 per month plan from T-Mobile for voice, texting and data. These companies are getting really brazen.

[–] toofpic 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If you add a strap to it, it will be smartwatch. So there's a need and a niche, just not for one more way to do the same stuff

[–] blattrules 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

That’s not a bad idea, but why not just integrate that functionality into a smartwatch?

[–] toofpic 6 points 7 months ago

This is exactly what I meant: they're selling a watch without a strap, and saying it's something new

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

How are you going to sell that? It already exists, so it won't draw venture capital that you can siphon off until the whole thing collapses.

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[–] callmepk 52 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Business people see the word AI mentioned in the products: invest invest invest! Business people see AI products hit with honest tech reviews: thoSe PEAsants aRE RUIning ThE InnOVATIOn

[–] thehatfox 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Terrible products like this might end poisoning the well for genuinely useful AI projects further down the line. “AI” will loose it’s buzz and instead become synonymous with failure to consumers and investors alike.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Don’t get my hopes up

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 7 months ago (4 children)

What the article doesn't mention is that there is pressure directed towards Marques Brownlee to get him to alter or remove his review by implying that reviews like his kill companies.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/marques-brownlees-humane-ai-pin-review

[–] TurboDiesel 71 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Marques is right. I'm sorry, for $700 goddamn dollars I refuse to be some random startup's R&D. I can't wait for the DiSrUpToR model to die a painful death.

And to all the people crying because MKBHD was mean, I say: STFU. I watch him for his integrity. Your product is bad and you should feel bad.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

You can’t be mean to a company. Companies don’t have feelings. Fuck a company if it sucks. Fuck most companies, honestly. No company would go out of its way for me. It will lie to me, take my money…in fact, that’s its only function.: to take my money, by lying if necessary. If it doesn’t take my money, it fails as a company. That’s its prime directive.

So…fuck any company.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Now I’m going to search it out and watch it, Streisand effect here we go.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Only if you had tried to hide what Streisand effect is, we could've had Streisand effect of Streisand effect.

Edit: Don't watch much review videos, hadn't even heard of the guy. Looked up the video, and ended up subscribing to his channel 😀 At least he is getting free publicity with it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

hes the target from certain media and channels because he has the largest reach.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 7 months ago

Hey, I just watched the video on youtube last night. He started off with the good things such as the physical design of the device, or the interesting way it can project a laser image on your hand, but after that, it was all downhill.

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[–] JeffreyOrange 37 points 7 months ago (5 children)

"much hyped" lol I have seen not one person who was positively looking forward to this. I don't really know why such dead in the water stupid idead even get any media attention at all.

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[–] snekerpimp 30 points 7 months ago

Ummm… really? The technology is nowhere near the hype they are putting behind it. Just some AI snake oil salesmen. The next few years will be filled with “ai” e-waste as people use the buzzword to sell garbage.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Major problem with the gadget is the same as all AI. You can tell it to perform tasks as long as the task doesn't have any specific requirements to how you want it done and if you inevitably do have requirements its faster to do it yourself.

[–] Diplomjodler3 24 points 7 months ago (3 children)

The main problem with the gadget is that it just doesn't work very well.

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[–] hahattpro 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

nad, an cheap Android phone for less than $200 can do the job.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

My first Android phone from 2010 was better at this and it didn't even have multitouch and just 160 MB of usable storage.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (2 children)

You can't just mention AI in a device description and expect people to buy it in flocks.

[–] snekerpimp 5 points 7 months ago (5 children)

But you can, look at Nvidia

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

To be fair, their stuff actually works.

[–] snekerpimp 6 points 7 months ago

Ehhhh… Nvidia stumbled upon the fact that their specialized silicon does very well with AI tasks. And yes, their software stack is leagues ahead of anyone else. But they are completely riding the “AI” buzzword popularity wave, and their overinflated stock price is evidence of that. This is just my honest opinion, having no background in any of this, just a casual dabbler and tech enthusiast.

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[–] exanime 6 points 7 months ago

Good preview of most "AI" products being peddled by force

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