PC makers say tomorrow’s AI PCs just need to keep it simple

Believe it or not, artificial intelligence is already subtly reinventing the personal computer.

No, we’re not talking about microprocessors or integrated NPUs. As chip vendors and Microsoft work to build out the Copilot+ PC ecosystem, progress has been slow and fitful.

Instead, PC vendors are looking for ways to reinvent familiar AI capabilities. You’ve seen this in Windows by generating artificial intelligence and filtering to affect the direction of photos and paintings. But we want to know what computer vendors think about the future of the artificially intelligent computers they are building. An unexpected answer? Voice. Telephone.

Unlike, say, monitor, An AI PC is the convergence of the underlying processor, peripheral hardware, operating system, and any AI applications and services that PC manufacturers rely on. All of these companies have their own agendas and their own perspectives. PC makers seem to agree that consumers need to hear a unified message about why they need an AI-powered PC, and that’s still being worked out.

Related: Becoming TOPS: How will NPU and Windows AI develop in 2025?

The year Copilot+ PC wasn’t really

To be fair, I don’t think I’ll be hearing that much from PC vendors about the future of AI PCs. After all, artificial intelligence computers are just in their infancy.

This year should be the year of the artificial intelligence computer. Microsoft chooses Copilot+ brand as signal Let consumers know that they are buying a “real” AI PC, not a half-hearted first-generation AI PC with very few AI TOPS. The second generation AI chips include AMD Ryzen AI 300 and Intel Core Ultra 200 (Lunar Lake) It was supposed to debut – and they did – and be blessed as a Copilot+ PC – which they did – offering all the features of a Copilot+ PC. They don’t. Copilot+ launched its main feature Recall for further testing, and without the necessary updates from Microsoft, AMD/Intel Copilot+ PCs are still not able to run all expected features.

This means that by 2025, we still only have one chip architecture that truly meets the requirements for Copilot+ PC processors: SnapdragonX Qualcomm’s platform. What a mess.

So PC makers moved on.

Using artificial intelligence to improve speech

By far one of the more effective strategies is to find applications that PC users already like and enhance them with artificial intelligence.

Since Windows 10, Microsoft has wanted users to be able to have conversations back and forth with Cortana, which has now been replaced by Copilot. But users can now interact with artificial intelligence and large language models through speech in real conversations on PCs and mobile phones. Some users may be too shy to do this. Even so, these users still need to talk to colleagues via Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet, and AI plays a quiet, unobtrusive role in filtering out unnecessary noise.

ASUS shows off version of AI noise filtering At the beginning of this year, it was amazing. But the ability of artificial intelligence to truly “speak” has also triggered changes.

“I think artificial intelligence will open up new ways for us to interact with our devices,” Tom Butler, executive director of Lenovo’s global commercial PC portfolio, said in an interview. “It’s not necessarily going to change…the traditional structure of the keyboard, the screen, the foldable laptop. But I think the way we interact with our devices is going to change. For a long time, our devices have had voice capabilities, but really Not yet [significant] The reason for talking to the device. Now, with AI engines running and supporting natural language interfaces, you can now have conversations with these AI engines.

Eric Ackerson, vice president of product marketing at Acer, agrees.

“I think that in the 2024 product launch, we have some changes, and these changes are reflected in small details that users cannot see: the number of microphones, the type of microphones used for voice interaction with the PC, various Copilot features , speech to text, etc. Although users will not see some small hardware changes, they will definitely benefit from them.

To make this more obvious, Acer also built in an “AI activity indicator” to help signal to users that the AI ​​is active, Ackerson added. Otherwise, the physical design of the Acer AI PC will look and feel essentially the same in the first half of 2025, he said.

Is the mobile phone a remote control for the computer?

Microsoft also has a role to play.

One of the interesting things about Samsung is its PCs part of the ecosystem It connects to Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Tab tablets, Galaxy phones, and a range of consumer devices connected through SmartThings. A Samsung executive said he thinks Microsoft may rely more on mobile phones as an entry point into PCs.

Samsung senior product manager Rafael de Ory said Microsoft has done a great job “identifying some different features that really meet consumer needs,” pointing to how Android phones and iPhones interact with Windows. way computer and phone connections. Now, Phone Link can exchange photos, send messages, and even make calls between your phone and PC.

“I do believe this is a good entry point, the first step in introducing consumers to the ecosystem,” Deoli said ruefully. “Take something you already have in your pocket, which is your phone, and let it communicate with your computer.”

“We want to work with Microsoft to develop capabilities where we can leverage the best hardware and the best artificial intelligence to demonstrate better communication across our ecosystem — to be able to say… ‘Extend my screen to My screen’tablet,” Deoli said. “Or if you connect to Samsung [home ecosystem] SmartThings, “Hey, make sure the garage door is closed.” “Turn on my TV.” Things that really start to bring AI value and create a convenience factor.

“Based on our conversations with Microsoft, they certainly understand the need to enhance and optimize some of these experiences,” Samsung’s de Ory added.

Consumers need to understand why and where AI is needed

One question some vendors face is what difference a few TOPS might make between one generation and the next, especially when the GPU offers a substantial boost over the NPU. Nvidia is expected to release consumer versions of its “Blackwell” (GeForce 5000) GPUs around January, including desktop and laptop versions. While no one knows the potential AI performance of these chips, they will certainly be well above what an integrated NPU can offer.

The trade-off, of course, is efficiency: the GPU will be able to easily outperform the CPU’s integrated NPU, but at the expense of additional power consumption and heat. “You’re going to get the pros and cons that come with it,” Acer’s Ackerson said.

“I think that not only more and more enterprises, but also more and more professional users will want to use GPUs to implement local device artificial intelligence,” Ackerson added.

All three major PC makers agree that better messaging must be part of the future of AI PCs. Lenovo’s Butler compared artificial intelligence to the early days of the dot-com boom, when no one really knew what a “.com” domain could do for you, but you needed it.

Acer’s Akerson describes the industry’s approach to AI marketing this way: “It’s overwhelming and leading to chaos.” Each company has its own focus, its own characteristics, from Qualcomm’s NPU-centric approach to Nvidia’s belief that GPUs are the best. There is also a fear that artificial intelligence will eventually take away jobs.

“I think consumers are generally confused because there is so much to take in and they don’t know where good information is coming from or what good information is. [AI] It can be done,” Ackerson said. They think artificial intelligence is a complete solution that can do anything, but that’s not the case.