Last week, Humane introduced their AI Pin. After raising $230 million and spending years working on a device that would revolutionize the way we interact with technology, what was supposed to be the start of a new era has gone awry.
Their launch video, focusing on the features instead of benefits, quickly attracted thousands of people bashing the AI Pin, mocking how the weight of the pin deformed the collar or how it was a gadget more than a revolution. Here’s what the AI Pin truly is, and how Humane should have marketed their product.
01 | A PROBLEM WORTH SOLVING
Today, we all more or less use our smartphones in 3 ways:
- Tools (calendar, photos, etc.)
- Communication (calls, text messages, etc.)
- Entertainment (Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc.)
And Humane’s new device has one goal: Connecting us back with other humans by eliminating the third bucket and cutting down our screen time. It’s that simple.
Humane’s goal is to let you leave the house without your phone, with only your AI Pin on your chest. They want you to finish your day’s work, order an Uber that will be at your door when you walk in, text your wife to say you’ll be home soon, and take a picture of the sunset on the way home, all without your phone.
The AI Pin is what the smartphone was to the computer: a device that performs pretty much the same tasks but finds its relevance in its format. It reconnects you to reality by removing the interface that separates you from it.
Being on your chest, the AI Pin can recognize what you’re about to eat and remind you to avoid those peanuts if you’re allergic. This accessibility is impossible for your phone, which remains far removed from your daily interactions even when carried in your pocket everywhere you go.
With its compactness, the AI Pin removes the superfluous. When your smartphone’s screen is more often entertaining than relevant, the AI Pin forces you to focus on the essentials. And while your iPhone vibrates at every Twitter notification, the AI Pin only comes to life when you think it’s important. It isn’t a functional tool. It’s an information concentrator.
02 | HOW SHOULD THEY HAVE SHARED THEIR VISION?
The launch video had one single goal: To let us reflect on our addiction to technology, then judge whether we wanted to take the first step to claim our attention back. That’s it.
This means we didn’t need to know all the product details in the first 2 minutes of the video. We didn’t need a complete review of all the applications available either since they’re all much more comfortable on a smartphone. It is evident that our photos will be of better quality on our phones and that the text we receive will be more legible on a screen than on our hands.
The AI Pin presentation was here to raise the question:Is a device that’ll serve the main functionality of a phone, without the burden of having to check it out every 5 minutes, worth $699?
If I were working on marketing at Humane, I’d have made sure the first minutes of their video went something like this:
Technology demands so much from us. We’re bombarded with so much distraction and information overload that our time and attention are no longer seen as the precious and finite resources they truly are. But what if we had a device that let us experience things like never before? Live life at its fullest again? What if technology got out of the way and became invisible? Introducing the Al Pin, the world’s most personal wearable Al. When turning on your Ai Pin, all your favorite apps live with you, not in front of you. You can capture photos and videos with a single tap, living the moment at its fullest while capturing a memory that’ll live with you forever. You can translate any thought with a single voice instruction without touching your phone, so conversations feel more natural, and collaborating becomes easier. Simply say ‘Catch me up” for your Ai Pin to sift through your texts and calls and give you the essence of what you need to know, saving you time for what’s important. We’ve built the Al Pin to comprehend the context of what you are saying, doing, or holding and intelligently guide you to the best Al experience for the task at hand It’s a powerful device that couples a deep understanding of the world with a deep understanding of you. Because life is about what we experience. Life is about what we smell, what we hear, what we see, and what we feel. Life is about making our everyday experiences better through technology, not about technology taking priority over our life experiences. And this is what were delivering today for just $699.
In this new version, the problem is clear (we’re bombarded with notifications and information), the solution is clear (it’s a device that removes the superfluous), and the benefits are clear (it allows us to live moments fully, not behind a screen).
