The latest AI {hardware} gimmick is a $99 wearable pendant that’s “all the time listening” and can “discuss” to you about no matter you occur to be doing. It’s known as Friend, and it’s the product of Avi Schiffmann, a techno-wunderkind who has spun up some spectacular (albeit, often controversial) initiatives up to now. Schiffmann introduced the launch of Friend on Tuesday, publishing a video to X to showcase the digital companion’s obvious capabilities. Friend doesn’t truly discuss to you. Instead, it texts you, sending little quips to your cellphone in response to stuff you may say or do.
introducing pal. not imaginary.
order now at pic.twitter.com/qU58xNvX5v
— Avi (@AviSchiffmann) July 30, 2024
Friend is at present solely accessible for pre-order, and The Verge reviews that the primary batch of pendants might not truly ship till subsequent January. Hilariously, it was as soon as conceptualized by Schiffmann as a “wearable mother,” which doesn’t have fairly the identical user-friendly ring to it. “Friend” was most likely a greater branding selection. The gadget was additionally beforehand known as “Tab.”
Despite the well-produced commercial launched Tuesday, there’s little in the best way of useful consumer data on the product’s web site, Friend.com. The website’s “weblog” quantities to 1 submit, revealed at the moment, that explains Schiffmann’s imaginative and prescient for the automated pendant.
The weblog, penned by Schiffmann, states:
Friend is an expression of how lonely I’ve felt.
I wish to thank all of the unbelievable artists and engineers who’ve helped me carry this work to life over the previous 12 months. You have really given me a deeper appreciation for the artwork I see in on a regular basis objects.
We can’t wait to listen to how pal matches into your life. Thanks for checking us out.
A FAQ web page gives restricted insights into the product, however specifies that the pendant pairs with a consumer’s smartphone through bluetooth and collects data on the consumer’s day by day actions through sound recording. The website states: “When linked through bluetooth, your pal is all the time listening and forming their very own inner ideas.” Through this knowledge assortment, the “pal” can then develop “ideas” about your actions, which it then shares with you through automated textual content messages.
Presumably the info recorded by the gadget is saved domestically, although there isn’t something on the positioning that particularly attests to that. The website’s privateness coverage contains imprecise language round knowledge assortment: “The private data that we acquire is determined by the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the alternatives you make, and the merchandise and options you employ,” it says. Further down, the coverage additionally claims it doesn’t acquire any “delicate data,” however fails to clarify simply what qualifies as “delicate.” Gizmodo reached out to the corporate for additional solutions and we’ll replace this submit after we obtain a response.
Friend is the newest novelty delivered to us by the AI {hardware} market, a subsection of the broader AI business that has had a fairly tough go of it to this point. First there was Humane, which tried to promote us the “AI pin,” a speaking wearable meant to interchange the smartphone. The product has since been dubbed a “catastrophe” and its executives are already seeking to promote the corporate. Then there was the Rabbit R1, which, regardless of sturdy preliminary buzz, has since been dubbed a “half-baked” experiment that doesn’t work as marketed.
It makes a specific amount of sense that, after these earlier companies didn’t ship on lofty guarantees, Friend may attempt to hold expectations low. Still, the product can’t assist however appear grift-y. It’s arduous to think about what the multi-year marketing strategy for Friend is, because it gives so little in the best way of precise companies.
Similarly, for the reason that gadget’s predominant affiliation appears to be—as Schiffmann has put it—loneliness, and it acts a alternative for precise human connection, carrying such a tool would appear to sign to others that you simply’re a little bit of a loser. Unlike a “pal” or “romance” chatbot, which you’ll be able to get pleasure from from the privateness of your personal dwelling, carrying the “loner amulet” round your neck in public could also be barely much less interesting to its introverted consumer base.
If something, the gadget appears destined to work commercially as a short-term cash-grab fueled by Gen-Z irony purchases: “Look, dude, I received you a Friend—because you desperately want one, haha.” It could also be at this stage of commerce that Friend finds its footing, if in any respect.
