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 referred to as Good friend, and it’s the product of Avi Schiffmann, a techno-wunderkind who has spun up some spectacular (albeit, occasionally controversial) initiatives prior 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 really speak to you. As an alternative, it texts you, sending little quips to your cellphone in response to belongings you may say or do.
introducing good friend. not imaginary.
order now at https://t.co/7kGiH5pQVK pic.twitter.com/qU58xNvX5v
— Avi (@AviSchiffmann) July 30, 2024
Good friend is at present solely accessible for pre-order, and The Verge reports that the primary batch of pendants could not really 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 most likely a greater branding selection. The gadget was additionally beforehand referred to as “Tab.”
Regardless of the well-produced commercial launched Tuesday, there may be little in the best way of useful person data on the product’s web site, Friend.com. The location’s “weblog” quantities to 1 submit, revealed in the present day, 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 unbelievable artists and engineers who’ve helped me deliver this work to life over the previous yr. You’ve gotten really given me a deeper appreciation for the artwork I see in on a regular basis objects.
We are able to’t wait to listen to how good friend suits into your life. Thanks for checking us out.
A FAQ page supplies restricted insights into the product, however specifies that the pendant pairs with a person’s smartphone through bluetooth and collects data on the person’s each day actions through sound recording. The location states: “When related through bluetooth, your good friend is at all times listening and forming their very own inside ideas.” By means of this knowledge assortment, the “good friend” can then develop “ideas” about your actions, which it then shares with you through automated textual content messages.
Presumably the information recorded by the gadget is saved regionally, although there isn’t something on the location that particularly attests to that. The location’s privacy policy contains imprecise language round knowledge assortment: “The non-public data that we accumulate is dependent upon the context of your interactions with us and the Companies, the alternatives you make, and the merchandise and options you employ,” it says. Additional down, the coverage additionally claims it doesn’t accumulate 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 once we obtain a response.
Good friend is the most recent novelty delivered to us by the AI {hardware} market, a subsection of the broader AI trade that has had a pretty rough go of it up to now. 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 seeking to sell the company. 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 did not ship on lofty guarantees, Good friend may attempt to preserve expectations low. Nonetheless, the product can’t assist however appear grift-y. It’s onerous to think about what the multi-year marketing strategy for Good friend is, because it presents so little in the best way of precise companies.
Equally, because the gadget’s principal 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 “good friend” or “romance” chatbot, which you’ll 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 acquired you a Good friend—because you desperately want one, haha.” It might be at this degree of commerce that Good friend finds its footing, if in any respect.
Trending Merchandise
