I recently attended an HP Imagine AI event, which covered the full scope of the tech giant’s plans for AI, both in its software and hardware. This was one of many recent events, presentations, and hands-on experiences from numerous manufacturers who are eager to show media and buyers what they can offer in this increasingly crowded market.
While HP’s offerings were pretty interesting and often seemed quite useful, all of this raises a much broader question: what is the purpose of all this? A second question must be asked afterwards: what is the true future of AI? Once we unravel all the glamour of these AI events, the shiny new AI PCs, and the multitude of AI-powered software and tools, this is the fundamental question that remains.
After pondering on it for a while, I think I've found my deceptively simplistic answer: accessibility, a simple, yet truly profound answer that highlights the true potential of AI.
What did HP reveal?
First, HP elaborated on its mission statement regarding AI: for AI to be real, it must be tangible, showcase HP’s leadership, and catalyze the industry. The manufacturer also made it clear that one of its main goals would be to address audience concerns regarding trust and establish a verification system on AI models. It must also address issues such as hallucination, drift, and bias in its AI datasets. However, whether or not HP can live up to these ideals will be something that will be left to the test of time.
One of the biggest new additions was the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, which offers an AMD Ryzen AI 300 SoC with 55 TOPS NPUs – even more than AMD’s standard 50 TOPS NPU, and part of collaborative efforts between AMD and HP. It was also claimed to be 45% more powerful than Apple’s M4 chips. It’s a bold claim, and one without any specifics like benchmarks to back it up, but if it’s even remotely true, we could be looking at a truly incredible machine.
Finally, HP revealed AI software and tools that will take advantage of built-in AI. Zoom, for example, noticed that 40% of users use fake backgrounds, so it improved image quality and removed disappearing elements for a more seamless look. Two editing programs, Djay Pro and Blackmagic Design, allow for in-depth music and video editing tools that beginners can use. There’s also Loccus.ai, a security and trust AI tool that uses a trojanized neural network that combats audio fakes, which are some of the most deceptive and rapidly evolving types.
Accessibility is what AI was built for
The two most promising AI programs I’ve seen were based on accessibility. Cephable is similar to Google’s Help Me Hands-Free tool, offering facial tracking, head tracking, and voice inputs through speech recognition. This allows for alternative navigation methods for those who can’t use a keyboard and trackpad or mouse. Because this tool runs through the AI-powered NPU, it frees up the processor and graphics card for other processes.
OmniBridge is an incredibly useful tool currently in development that targets a niche and underserved market. This program translates sign language into both spoken language and text at the same time, made possible by using AI that analyzes 3D space to interpret gestures in real time. While the program is still in its Alpha phase, it already knows 5,000 signs and its ultimate goal is to learn 10,000 or master them completely.
It's not hard to see what kind of potential these two programs have. Not just on their merits, but also in terms of what other kinds of accessible programs could be created with AI. I'd love to see even more AI tools like this developed in the future. It's really exciting to see what can be done with technology for the greater good, rather than just for economic gain.
Final Thoughts
We are seeing AI spreading across the tech industry at an accelerated pace, with each tech giant creating its own AI-based software and hardware to take advantage of this trend. Of course, as with many other recent advancements in technology, this comes at a cost. Incredible ecological costAI is running out of the large data centers needed to power both generative AI and the cloud storage it often relies on, which has been consuming massive amounts of water and other resources.
There is also the significant issue of plagiarism, as AI is being trained in… Copyrighted Music, documentswritten works, research, art and photographsand more. And sadly, while laws are being developed to combat this problem, creatives and journalists continue to be pushed out of their industries in favor of companies that use these AI tools to create content.
However, AI has never been all bad, and even now there are ways to apply it to help those who need these tools the most. From what I saw during HP’s Imagine AI event, the accessibility programs were by far the most creative and useful of all. They tackled real-world problems and demonstrated why AI is necessary to solve them, using the power of AI to help underserved markets. Not to mention, this same technology can run without interfering with other PC processes, meaning you can continue your productivity and creative work or even your gaming while these accessibility tools simultaneously help you.
If we have to endure a world oversaturated with artificial intelligence, where much of it actively harms others and the planet, the only use I want to see is one that actually helps others. Less tools about how to spy on workers using their mobile phones on Zoom calls and more tools that translate sign language into various spoken languages.
