Picture this: you’re on the bus or ambling through the park when a pressing task suddenly pops into your mind. Maybe you needed to send an important email, catch up on a meeting, or set up a lunch date with a friend. Instead of diving into your pocket for your smartphone, you simply voice your reminder aloud. A discreet device, attached to your shirt or perched on your nose, instantly processes your command. It sends the email, briefs you on the meeting, or texts your friend an invitation for lunch—all without you ever touching a screen.
This seemingly futuristic convenience is the goal a rising wave of tech companies is racing to achieve with artificial intelligence. The explosion of generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT last year set the stage, leading platforms such as Google, Slack, and Snapchat to rapidly integrate this technology into their ecosystems. Now, AI is stepping beyond software, aiming to merge into physical devices and potentially replace some of the everyday functionalities of our trusty smartphones.
One notable contender in this space is the Ai Pin from California-based startup Humane. Comparable in size to a tin of Vaseline, this wearable device attaches to your clothing via a magnet. It performs a range of tasks—sending texts, making calls, capturing photos, and playing music—all without a screen or downloadable apps. Instead, it projects a minimalist interface onto your palm using a laser, and can be operated through voice commands akin to how you’d interact with ChatGPT.
Virginia-based consultant Tiffany Jana, who has already pre-ordered the device, is excited about its potential. She plans to use the Ai Pin to aid her writing and creative work, and envisions it replacing her need for a photographer and translator during frequent travels.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s parent company Meta has also ventured into AI wearables with its AI-powered smart glasses developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban. Not far behind, Chinese tech giants TCL and Oppo have released their own versions of AI spectacles. These devices, much like the Ai Pin, are marketed for their ability to connect to an AI chatbot to handle voice-activated tasks.
But you may be wondering, don’t our current devices already offer similar functionalities through Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa? Indeed, voice assistants have become standard in our smartphones and smart homes. According to David Lindlbauer, assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, today’s new wearable AI devices aim to embed these capabilities in a more seamless and ubiquitous manner.
The Ai Pin and others like it promise to streamline our digital interactions, potentially curbing our excessive smartphone use by stripping away the addictive applications that often monopolize our attention. “An alcoholic is not addicted to the bottle, but to the contents,” notes Christian Montag, head of molecular psychology at Ulm University. By removing the screen altogether, these AI devices could significantly reduce the urge to doom-scroll and offer a more balanced way to stay connected.
However, wearable tech hasn’t always had a smooth ride. The 2013 debut of Google Glass, for instance, faced consumer backlash for being perceived as unfashionable and overly high-tech. Similarly, early smartwatches struggled to shed their sci-fi gadget image. This time around, companies are placing greater emphasis on design aesthetics and fashion credibility, as seen in the sleek minimalism of the Ai Pin and Meta’s Ray-Ban collaboration.
Yet, beyond fashion and novelty, practical value remains a crucial hurdle for these devices. The Ai Pin’s recent demo featured some glaring errors, like miscalculating nutritional content and providing incorrect information about a solar eclipse—so-called “hallucinations” that still plague many AI systems.
Moreover, many of the features touted by wearable AI devices are already integrated into contemporary smartphones. Tech giants such as Samsung and Google are continually enhancing their devices with AI-powered functionalities like translation and message drafting. Even Deutsche Telekom recently introduced a concept for a smartphone that operates solely on AI without any traditional apps.
So, what’s next? According to Reece Hayden, senior analyst at ABI Research, the immediate focus will likely be on embedding AI into existing devices rather than creating entirely new ones. Nonetheless, there are innovators like Rabbit’s R1, a handheld AI assistant designed to streamline interactions across multiple apps and devices, pushing the boundaries of what these wearables can achieve.
Despite the competition, wearable AI has yet to firmly establish its purpose. The challenge is to demonstrate not just novelty but tangible enhancements to daily life. As Sam Altman of OpenAI and tech visionary Jony Ive brainstorm new hardware possibilities, the race to evolve beyond smartphones is on.
Although our current smartphones are incredibly powerful, their reign might not last forever. “The smartphone has only been with us for about 15 years,” says Lindlbauer. With new waves of technological innovation on the horizon, it’s entirely possible that the way we interact with digital technology today will seem quaint just a decade or two down the line.