In this day and age, you’d be hard-pressed to find a tech company that isn’t trying to get into AI. Since the rise of ChatGPT and the public’s generally positive response to AI, technology companies have been catching up and striving to add AI support to next-generation hardware. This can be seen at this year’s CES and various recent events and new product releases.
AI PC has become a trend, what exactly is it?
While this year’s trade show events gave us a look at an impressive array of new technologies, the main focus of almost all of the events revolved around AI and what role it plays in phones, laptops, and computers. While AI has been available in mobile phones for some time, the idea of having powerful AI CPU cores in laptops and PCs is enough to imagine the endless possibilities AI will eventually offer.
But this expectation may be misleading, or it may be too early to tell. As we know from previous technology showcases, companies will often jump on board to support an idea without considering the benefits it will bring to the end user. Currently, companies such as Intel, AMD, and Nvidia are shifting their focus to AI implementation in computers and laptops by adding NPUs to their latest CPUs. But when asked what these chips would do, the answers were vague and relied heavily on what it might do rather than any clear, direct or concrete user-focused benefits.
What is an AI PC?
AI PC is a computer with an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) inside the CPU. NPU is a dedicated processing unit for AI-related programs. These chips can perform 10 times the calculations per second of traditional CPU cores and are very suitable for using large language models or complex algorithms. The NPU is also designed to work in conjunction with the CPU and GPU to relieve pressure on either processor as needed, ensuring no processor is overwhelmed and providing users with a smoother workflow.
The working principle of NPU is similar to platforms such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, except that it has its own data set, algorithm and language model natively on the chip, which implements language and media processing capabilities and helps users simplify many daily tasks. Companies such as AMD, Nvidia and Intel have announced chips with AI cores, such as the Intel Core Ultra series and AMD Ryzen 8000G CPUs. GPU developers like Nvidia are busy developing AI-based features for their RTX series of graphics cards.
Potential applications of AI PC and NPU
The burning question on every consumer’s mind is, what can the new AI PC do for you? In the early stages of this technology, AI PCs were almost no different from ordinary computers. This is because all computers can access third-party AI applications on the Internet. The biggest difference is that AI PCs store this information locally.
Key features of AI PCs promoted by technology companies include:
- text to image program
- Provide AI-based security features to devices
- Smart battery management
- Improved photo and video editing features
- AI assistant for writing, coding, auto-correction and predictive text
Many of these features require a constant connection to the Internet when launched, but some apps, such as AI assistants, can be used offline. The current idea of AI PC is to use AI to accelerate and optimize programs on the computer and provide new quality-of-life features that users can benefit from. While this is very helpful for some applications, it’s not exactly “revolutionary.” The real potential of this new technology lies in its future uses.
Are AI PCs a gimmick or a game changer?
With all the hype surrounding AI these days, it’s no surprise that chip manufacturers are rushing to add AI to their products as quickly as possible before consumers lose interest. But in the race to be the first native AI vendor, many companies will also need to create uses for NPUs and AI PCs. There is no doubt that adding NPUs to processors will bring amazing benefits to end users in the long run, but in initial practice, AI PCs will mostly ride on novel trends.
Current AI CPU demonstrations include features such as video conferencing background blurring, email drafting, and image generation. These features are great, but people can already do these things using third-party apps and programs on the web, so AI PC makers need to find ways to incentivize users to upgrade. As far as current AI PCs go, they’re more of a gimmick than a game-changer, providing users with some beneficial features but without the desire to upgrade their computers tomorrow. Of course, the same thing could have been claimed for ChatGPT and other AI applications when they were first announced.
Are AI PCs worth the hype?
Although AI is being hailed by technology companies as the computer of the future, the technology currently only provides minor incremental improvements by optimizing existing applications and introducing some new features. Although AI PC will not prompt the need for upgrades, history has proven that seemingly fancy technologies like ChatGPT can evolve into indispensable tools, so the jury is still out.
The promise of AI PCs now lies in the hands of developers, who must use this new chip architecture to create new software that delivers tangible value to consumers. So, do AI PCs live up to the current hype? Probably not worth it. But as new AI CPUs roll out, we don’t know what new programs developers will create to tap into the untapped potential of AI PCs.
Source: KOCPC Chinese