AI CANDY

Al PCs are here to disrupt the market. How fast can they become truly useful?

- ARYAMAN GUPTA

On June 29, 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, promising the capabilities of an iPod, mobile phone, and internet functionality rolled into one. But it was only when Apple introduced the App Store, in 2008, that the iPhone started to find widespread appeal.

Seventeen years later, on May 20 this year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella introduced the Copilot+ PCs. These are personal computers loaded with artificial intelligence (AI) features.

"It is a pivotal moment, quite similar to the mobile phone industry pivoting from feature phones to smartphones," says Ashish Sikka, Director and Category Head, Lenovo India.

And just like the pivot from features phones to smartphones, AI PCs of today face a challenge. Since the technology is nascent, use cases are limited.

What is an AIPC?

In late 2023, the term AI PC was coined for computers with next generation processors. An AI PC is one built with hardware, specifically a neural processing unit (NPU), that performs AI processing locally. This NPU exists besides the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) that PCs come with.

AI devices enable accelerated execution of AI functions of all types on the local PC itself, rather than relying on the cloud. They offer better power efficiency and improved responsiveness, since the CPU and GPU are available for other tasks.

"Currently, use cases (for AI PCs) include features like hyper personalisation - be it drafting emails, gauging downtime of users, etc. They are able to carry out a lot of tasks on the local PC, without relying on the cloud. A lot of data, thus, remains on the host PC, which improves efficiency. Third is improved security, since a lot of the data remains on the host PC," explains Sikka.