The most recent AI {hardware} gimmick is a $99 wearable pendant that’s “at all times listening” and can “speak” to you about no matter you occur to be doing. It’s known as Good friend, and it’s the product of Avi Schiffmann, a techno-wunderkind who has spun up some spectacular (albeit, occasionally controversial) initiatives up to now. Schiffmann introduced the launch of Good friend on Tuesday, publishing a video to X to showcase the digital companion’s obvious capabilities. Good friend doesn’t truly speak to you. As a substitute, it texts you, sending little quips to your cellphone in response to belongings you may say or do.
introducing pal. not imaginary.
order now at https://t.co/7kGiH5pQVK pic.twitter.com/qU58xNvX5v
— Avi (@AviSchiffmann) July 30, 2024
Good friend is at the moment solely accessible for pre-order, and The Verge reports 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 mom,” which doesn’t have fairly the identical user-friendly ring to it. “Good friend” was in all probability a greater branding alternative. The gadget was additionally beforehand known as “Tab.”
Regardless of the well-produced commercial launched Tuesday, there’s little in the way in which of useful person info on the product’s web site, Friend.com. The location’s “weblog” quantities to at least one submit, printed as we speak, that explains Schiffmann’s imaginative and prescient for the automated pendant.
The weblog, penned by Schiffmann, states:
Good friend is an expression of how lonely I’ve felt.
I need to thank all of the unimaginable artists and engineers who’ve helped me deliver this work to life over the previous 12 months. You’ve gotten really given me a deeper appreciation for the artwork I see in on a regular basis objects.
We will’t wait to listen to how pal suits into your life. Thanks for checking us out.
A FAQ page gives restricted insights into the product, however specifies that the pendant pairs with a person’s smartphone through bluetooth and collects info on the person’s day by day actions through sound recording. The location states: “When related through bluetooth, your pal is at all times listening and forming their very own inside ideas.” By 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 regionally, although there isn’t something on the positioning that particularly attests to that. The location’s privacy policy contains imprecise language round knowledge assortment: “The non-public info that we gather depends upon the context of your interactions with us and the Providers, the alternatives you make, and the merchandise and options you employ,” it says. Additional down, the coverage additionally claims it doesn’t gather any “delicate info,” however fails to elucidate simply what qualifies as “delicate.” Gizmodo reached out to the corporate for additional solutions and we’ll replace this submit once we obtain a response.
Good friend is the newest novelty delivered to us by the AI {hardware} market, a subsection of the broader AI business that has had a pretty rough go of it thus far. First there was Humane, which tried to promote us the “AI pin,” a speaking wearable meant to replace the smartphone. The product has since been dubbed a “disaster” and its executives are already trying to sell the company. Then there was the Rabbit R1, which, regardless of robust 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, Good friend may attempt to preserve expectations low. Nonetheless, the product can’t assist however appear grift-y. It’s arduous to think about what the multi-year marketing strategy for Good friend is, because it affords so little in the way in which of precise providers.
Equally, because the gadget’s predominant affiliation appears to be—as Schiffmann has put it—loneliness, and it acts a substitute for precise human connection, carrying such a tool would appear to sign to others that you just’re a little bit of a loser. Not like a “pal” or “romance” chatbot, which you’ll be able to enjoy from the privacy of your own home, carrying the “loner amulet” round your neck in public could also be barely much less interesting to its introverted person 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 obtained you a Good friend—because you desperately want one, haha.” It might be at this stage of commerce that Good friend finds its footing, if in any respect.
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