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Re:Rabbit R1, Designed by Teenage Engineering by squarefoot on Tuesday January 09, 2024 @06:31PM (#38933881)
This is pretty much what everyone saw coming when LLM became a reality: that is, eliminating the usual human-machine interface because now the machine can understand what we say and instructing it through keypresses and clicks becomes unnecessary. In a few years everyone will carry a device like this one, and "call Jim, the one I met the other day, not my brother" or "start writing an email to all my associates" etc. will become a reality, and visual interfaces will be relegated to contexts where we actually want visual interaction, such as photos, movies, games, etc. All cool, but unfortunately there's a catch: a device that can run AI locally and connect to the Internet without depending on a proprietary cloud, as of today can't fit in a pocket and can't cost $199, therefore it will depend on services that will have a cost in money and privacy. Also, since this is looks like nothing more than an audio/video interface to a remote cloud AI, everything it does can be replicated on a smartphone app.
Re:Rabbit R1, Designed by Teenage Engineering by cal85 on Tuesday January 09, 2024 @07:12PM (#38934291)
I mostly agree but think you underestimate the “contexts where we actually want visual interaction” - a screen is not just for consuming visual media. It might be that all input is spoken, but output will always need a screen, because spoken word is just incredibly low bandwidth compared to a good text layout. Imagine an order confirmation page for a complex food delivery order, where you’ve made a couple of item modifications and you’re using a promotional deal for a discount on the total price. You can take in all that info in 2 seconds if it’s nicely laid out on a screen. Compare that to having to listen carefully to a voice reciting it all for you. And same goes for things like just browsing other songs by the same artist you’re listening to. Text on a screen, with good typographical layout for fast mental processing, will still be the best output format for many use cases.
Re:Rabbit R1, Designed by Teenage Engineering by pjfitzpatrick on Tuesday January 09, 2024 @09:15PM (#38935312)
great examples—that makes a lot of sense
Re:Rabbit R1, Designed by Teenage Engineering by paxys on Tuesday January 09, 2024 @06:33PM (#38933918)
> In a few years everyone will carry a device like this one, and ...

Yes, but that device is a smartphone. I can't see a future in which standalone devices that are simply ChatGPT API shells are actually viable, unless they add some significant capabilities that a phone app or built-in phone assistant doesn't have.

Re:Rabbit R1, Designed by Teenage Engineering by imiric on Tuesday January 09, 2024 @06:55PM (#38934122)
A smartphone is still too difficult to use and confusing for many people. There is a large market of users that would benefit from AI tools if it can be packaged in a user-friendly way. This is the first device I've seen that seems to succeed at this, if their keynote can be trusted.

Not to mention the price. This is a fifth of the price of most flagship smartphones.