Apple and OpenAI’s wearable AI devices sound like a nightmare

AI is super popular, and if it’s not being marketed at a flagship phone’s launch event, then it’s being shoved into every app available for said flagship phone. I get it, it’s the next big thing, big enough to severely impact memory prices for the entire tech industry to the point where some consumer electronics brands are expected to go bankrupt within a year or two.

Sure, AI can be pretty useful. If implemented correctly, modern AI models can completely change the entire workflow of a certain job or service. That’s the problem, though: not many companies are finding ways to implement it in a way that actually makes sense. It’s all just empty marketing for the most pointless features.

And there’s perhaps no products more guilty of this than the two upcoming devices from Apple and OpenAI. Devices that, according to OpenAI at least, have the potential to transcend the smartphone. Yeah, I doubt that.

The problem with modern AI tools

To date, there are barely any services or features on smartphones that have been meaningfully enhanced with the addition of AI. The one genuinely useful addition I can think of is the new suite of photo editing tools on phones, and Apple’s phones are awful at that for the time being.

Other than that, we’ve got AI “enhancements” that no one asked for. AI for summarizing an email, AI for asking about something you took a photo of, AI for asking general questions you could have just Googled. And, perhaps worst of all, AI that you outsource all of your daily thinking to, like showing it two dresses and asking which one would go better with your shoes.

Modern AI is incapable of giving you an answer that matters. Go on, go ask your AI assistant which outfit you should wear out of two that you’ve taken a photo of or shown it during a chat. Chances are, it will give you a long-winded answer about the pros and cons of each outfit without saying anything meaningful in the slightest.

Modern AI, while excellent for some niche use cases, is entirely unneeded for most facets of life. So, naturally, Apple and OpenAI decided that it made perfect sense to stuff it into a device that has no display.

AI wearables without displays

What exactly are these devices? Apple is apparently working on a pendant that might never even see the light of day. It’s something that the company came up with as an answer for a wearable AI-powered device that wasn’t following the trend of smart glasses. Alongside it, Apple is also working on AirPods that will have cameras built in.

OpenAI, on the other hand, is working on something different, albeit still very similar to the Apple pendant. Details have leaked about the OpenAI smart speaker, which is almost certainly the product that CEO Sam Altman teased a while back, saying that it would be one of the best pieces of technology that the world has ever seen. This is the same device that former Apple designer Jony Ive is working on with OpenAI.

It can apparently be placed anywhere around your house like a smart home device and it can also be worn around outside. It will have a microphone and a camera as well so that users can talk with it naturally.

Here’s where it gets cool. The device will apparently be able to recognize its user and take proactive actions, such as suggesting doing something in preparation for an upcoming event. It will also likely be able to always keep an eye on your surroundings and act almost like a portable friend. And…that’s it.

Sure, we don’t have many details about it yet, but just think about the entire concept for a second. You’ll be carrying around a device that doesn’t have a display. For the sake of giving OpenAI the benefit of doubt, let’s also say that this speaker can connect to a pair of Bluetooth earphones.

Now, if you receive a message, at least it won’t be reading out the contents to the entire bus. Problem solved? Not exactly.

If you want to listen to a song, you can’t just navigate to a music player, you’ll have to ask it out loud to play something. Need to send a message? Better get comfortable with the idea of dictating it in a subway full of other commuters. Want to just watch a movie or play a game to pass the time? Nope, can’t do that.

So…what exactly is the point of this thing again? I honestly, genuinely, do not know. At least smart glasses have speakers pointed at your ears, and they’re actually building towards something that does stand a chance of replacing smartphones: AR smart glasses. As in, you will have a display, an ever more private one.

I have no clue why the pendant and the smart speaker are even being considered, but you can find me discussing them further over on X and Threads.

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