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Apple's AirTag-Sized AI Pin: Everything We Know

Everyone says "I don't want this because I can't think of one useful thing it could do."

OK, here are some ideas...

One function this might do is to passively take notes for you. I can imagine going home after a doctor’s visit and trying to remember exactly what you were told. Then you would ask Siri. "Last Thursday, did the doctor say twice a day or every two days?" Then Siri answers, “ I think you meant Thursday before last, and it is twice a day."

Then you are shopping and heading to the checkout line, and Siri speaks up and says, "I think you forgot to buy cooking oil. I noticed you used the last of it yesterday."

Then you get home and ask yourself out of frustration, “Where did I put my phone?" And Siri says, “Under an empty shopping bag in the kitchen near the toaster.”
 
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Happy_John said:
The biggest worry I have is privacy - not the privacy of the user of the device, buy the privacy of everyone around that person. Try haven’t clicked “I agree” to any contract.

It reminds me of the Google street view controversy in Germany. Street view seems great at the time, amazing use of technology. Except - what’d you didn’t wan’t tsk strangers to look at your home or even potentially to look into your home, if the inside of your home was possible through street view if you had big windows and no blinds? It may only be a still image from a single point in time, but Google hadn’t asked the homeowner .

Google said, no problem, you opt out and if you ask us, We’ll remove the image. But that’s still problem, because the option to opt out is not good enough. Not bring recorded should be the default, and people need to actively opt-in and agree. The agreement cannot just be presumed.

An always-on camera/mic device is the same, but much much more invasive. The fact hat the audio feed is being sent to an LLM that may be able to identify people and provide information arion about them (which it could if it was trained in social media e.g. Facebook) based on the audio/video feed is also very invasive.

Given that people have used AirTags to stalk and track other people without their knowledge, this type of device really hasn’t been thought through with regards other’s right to not be recorded, identified and analysed/profiled without their knowledge.

You might have consented to use the device, with all its terms and conditions, but they haven’t.
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The street view case is more defensible since there's no expectation of privacy from the curb. And facial recognition technology has gotten good enough to blur most things, but same goes for expectation of privacy in public.

I agree these seem a lot worse, but the sad fact is that if you really start paying attention, you're already on camera basically from the moment you leave your house until you return. Your own home really is about the only place you'd practically be able to ban it. Restauraunts, sports arenas, schools, etc etc you name it you're already on camera. From a legal standpoint I'm not sure what could be done.

I get that they're allowed to record on their own property but people already have personal recording devices they're using all the time to upload pictures of people to Facebook etc without their permission.

I suppose I'm just going to get a bunch of t-shirts and badges printed up that all say "I do not consent to audio visual recording, facial recognition, or AI processing" or something like that.
 
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Happy_John said:
The biggest worry I have is privacy - not the privacy of the user of the device, buy the privacy of everyone around that person. They haven’t clicked “I agree” to any contract.

It reminds me of the Google street view controversy in Germany. Street view seems great at the time, amazing use of technology. Except - what if you didn’t want strangers to look at your home or even potentially to look into your home, if viewing the inside of your home was possible through street view if you had big windows and no blinds? It may only be a still image from a single point in time, but Google hadn’t asked the homeowner .

Google said, no problem, you can opt out and if you ask us, We’ll remove the image. But that’s still a problem, because the option to opt out is not good enough. Not bring recorded should be the default, and people need to actively opt-in and agree to be recorded. The agreement cannot just be presumed.

An always-on camera/mic device is the same, but much much more invasive. The fact hat the audio feed is being sent to an LLM that may be able to identify people and provide information arion about them (which it could if it was trained in social media e.g. Facebook) based on the audio/video feed is also very invasive.

Given that people have used AirTags to stalk and track other people without their knowledge, this type of device really hasn’t been thought through with regards other’s right to not be recorded, identified and analysed/profiled without their knowledge.

You might have consented to use the device, with all its terms and conditions, but they haven’t.
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Yes, depending on the country (that’s why I brought up Germany, it turned out that people did have the right to deny Google the right to show photos of their property, even if taken from a public place), I’m not arguing the legality of it.

I don’t think it’s good for society. It erodes the basic concept of consent. Which is essential for having a decent quality of life in a society.

There was a time when tech companies did consider this - the mandatory green light when a camera was capturing video, or the loud audio “click” when taking a photo.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
The street view case is more defensible since there's no expectation of privacy from the curb. And facial recognition technology has gotten good enough to blur most things, but same goes for expectation of privacy in public.


I suppose I'm just going to get a bunch of t-shirts and badges printed up that all say "I do not consent to audio visual recording, facial recognition, or AI processing" or something like that.
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Here in the US, I don't think that you can opt out of being recorded in public. The right belongs to the person doing the recording, and you cannot take that away from him.



It is a First Amendment issue. I have a right to make a video, and the government cannot tell me what content is allowed or not. I want shots of my hometown streets and the people who live there in my video. The only limits are that you can only shoot what is already exposed to the public. I don't think you can opt out if your face is shown in public.



Camera sreally is everywhere. I think every Tesla has about 10 cameras pointing out in every direction, and at least here in So. California, there are always a few Teslas in sight. The car photographs you so that it knows where you are and does not kill you or crash into other objects. I don't see how you could opt out of a car's video navigation system.
 
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Yawn. Just ship the glasses with some good speakers and mics so I don’t have to wear earbuds all day. The Metas have really good audio but I don’t want Facebook on my face.
 
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ChrisA said:
Here in the US, I don't think that you can opt out of being recorded in public. The right belongs to the person doing the recording, and you cannot take that away from him.



It is a First Amendment issue. I have a right to make a video, and the government cannot tell me what content is allowed or not. I want shots of my hometown streets and the people who live there in my video. The only limits are that you can only shoot what is already exposed to the public. I don't think you can opt out if your face is shown in public.



Camera sreally is everywhere. I think every Tesla has about 10 cameras pointing out in every direction, and at least here in So. California, there are always a few Teslas in sight. The car photographs you so that it knows where you are and does not kill you or crash into other objects. I don't see how you could opt out of a car's video navigation system.
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Yeah that's what I'm saying, pretty much the only time I think you can legally stop it is on private property if the property owner explicitly forbids it. But it's still worth a shot in situations where consent would be technically required, like uploading that video for public viewing.
 
ChrisA said:
Everyone says "I don't want this because I can't think of one useful thing it could do."

OK, here are some ideas...

One function this might do is to passively take notes for you. I can imagine going home after a doctor’s visit and trying to remember exactly what you were told. Then you would ask Siri. "Last Thursday, did the doctor say twice a day or every two days?" Then Siri answers, “ I think you meant Thursday before last, and it is twice a day."

Then you are shopping and heading to the checkout line, and Siri speaks up and says, "I think you forgot to buy cooking oil. I noticed you used the last of it yesterday."

Then you get home and ask yourself out of frustration, “Where did I put my phone?" And Siri says, “Under an empty shopping bag in the kitchen near the toaster.”
Click to expand...
This explains the point of the thing much better than the article did. I couldn’t think of any use cases after finishing the article, but the kind you describe here make sense. It’s about personal context, then. Which none of us have experienced, because the new Siri that promised to actually understand our context hasn’t shipped.

I’ve been anxiously waiting to have a private AI that understands my context even a little. A pin would augment that ability. I have some reservations about the pin part, in the same way I would (at least initially) feel a little creeped out if a bunch of people wore their phones on necklaces recording everything, but I can see that its usefulness hinges on Siri capabilities that haven’t shipped yet, which is part of why some of us are left scratching our heads.
 
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Until the software catches up with hardware this is DOA. We have chips that can run as a Mac in our phones and they still can't figure out how to deliver Apple Intelligence as promised 2 iOS versions ago.
 
Apple Pendant User
“Siri - I’m being chased by a man with a knife. I’m lost, and running on a sidewalk to God knows where. I see an Apple Store up the street. Please call the police. The man is tall, light-skinned, He’s wearing a red hoodie. I fear for my safety. Make the call now!”.

Siri - “I sorry, I didn’t quite get that. Would you like to search the web?”

Police Patrolman
“We found a Jane Don stabbed to death, lying on the sidewalk in a pool of blood. It looks like she was robbed.”

Police Detective
“Bag and Tag that Apple Pendant. We’ll ask Siri what happened here.”
 
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A few similar products similar to this have come and gone that were clearly half baked (ex: Humane AI Pin), but even if Apple can do it far better, I'm not convinced people actually want anything like this.

All of the tech companies need to figure out that there are very limited situations where the public wants their primary communication method with their tech be via voice. Smartphoens are ubiquitous because they work on that level, they fit in the pocket and have an interface that works while holding it in your hand with no additional needed (no stylus, don't need a surface to set it on like a laptop/keyboard, that sort of thing).

Unless it's super different from what we use our smartphones FOR, just having a drastically different method of interface isn't likely to move the needle on the public adopting it.
 
Think outside the box here instead of for yourselves only, for a minute. One of Apple’s biggest focuses over the years has been accessibility. Something like this can be huge quality of life game changer for those that require it. “Eyes and ears of the iPhone” raised my eyebrows.

Imagine a blind person wearing something like this and through AI and facial recognition, the pin can recognize who the person is approaching and let them know. That’s just a small example.

And don’t give me that bull spit that it’s always listening and watching and recording. Guess what, your ears and eyes are always listening and watching and your brain is always recording.
 
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elemenohme said:
Yawn. Just ship the glasses with some good speakers and mics so I don’t have to wear earbuds all day. The Metas have really good audio but I don’t want Facebook on my face.
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I'm reminded of the lady in the library today who was loudly talking on the phone, and then said, "hang on, I'm going to put you on speaker."
 
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