‘This is going to be painful’: How a bold AI device flopped

Humane’s Ai Pin is modelled at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Oct 27, 2023. The Ai Pin was supposed to free people from smartphones, but sales have been slow. Now Humane is talking to HP and others about a potential sale. — The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO: Days before gadget reviewers weighed in on the Humane Ai Pin, a futuristic wearable device powered by artificial intelligence, the founders of the company gathered their employees and encouraged them to brace themselves. The reviews might be disappointing, they warned.

Humane’s founders, Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, were right. In April, reviewers brutally panned the new US$699 (RM3,282) product, which Humane had marketed for a year with ads and at glitzy events such as Paris Fashion Week. The Ai Pin was “totally broken” and had “glaring flaws”, some reviewers said. One declared it “the worst product I’ve ever reviewed”.