AI the Product vs AI the Feature

Summary

The video script discusses the ongoing debate over whether AI should be considered a standalone product or simply a feature within larger platforms. It draws parallels with the rise and fall of Clubhouse, which started as a unique platform but eventually became a feature in other apps. The script ponders the fate of AI, questioning if dedicated devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit r1 can succeed against tech giants like Apple and Google, who are integrating AI capabilities into their ecosystems. It concludes by speculating on the future of AI, suggesting that it may follow the path of becoming a ubiquitous feature rather than a distinct product.

Takeaways

• 🤖 AI as a Feature: The script discusses the concept that AI might be better suited as a feature integrated into existing products rather than a standalone product.
• 📈 Clubhouse's Rise and Fall: Clubhouse's initial success as a standalone app was overshadowed by the integration of its live audio feature into larger platforms, leading to its decline.
• 📱 Platform Integration: Companies like Spotify, Discord, Slack, and Twitter integrated live audio features, which were initially unique to Clubhouse, into their own apps.
• 🧠 AI Hardware Experiments: The script mentions devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit r1, which attempted to offer AI as a product but didn't perform well.
• 🔄 The Shift in AI Approach: Apple and Google demonstrated different strategies for AI, with Apple integrating AI features across its operating systems and Google focusing on broader AI capabilities.
• 🖌️ AI in Creativity: Apple's AI features now allow users to generate images and emojis, enhancing creative capabilities within their devices.
• 💬 Improved Siri: The new Siri is powered by advanced language models, allowing for better conversational understanding and context parsing.
• 🔑 Semantic Indexing: Apple's AI uses a semantic index to better understand and retrieve information from various files on a user's device.
• 🔮 The Future of AI: The script ponders whether AI will ultimately be more successful as a feature or if there's room for standalone AI products to thrive.
• 🚀 High Barrier to Entry: Developing and training AI models is costly and complex, potentially limiting the number of companies that can create successful AI products.
• 📚 Apple's In-house Models: Apple has built and trained its own AI models for features like image generation and language processing, indicating a significant investment in AI technology.

Q & A

What did the Wired podcast suggest about AI in relation to products and features?

The Wired podcast suggested that AI is a feature, not a product, highlighting the idea that AI capabilities are being integrated into existing products rather than being standalone offerings.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 AI as a Feature, Not a Product

The script discusses the evolving perception of AI, highlighting the recent Apple WWDC as evidence that AI is more of a feature than a standalone product. It draws a parallel with the rise and fall of Clubhouse, which was initially a unique product but eventually became a feature integrated into larger platforms like Spotify, Discord, Slack, and Twitter. The script ponders whether AI, as demonstrated by devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit r1, can be a successful product or will follow the fate of Clubhouse and become just another feature within existing ecosystems. It also contrasts this with Apple's approach to integrating AI capabilities into its operating systems, enhancing user experience through writing tools, a new Siri, and image generation, suggesting that AI's future might lie more in being an integrated feature rather than a separate product.

05:02

🔄 The Standalone Success vs. Integrated Feature Debate

This paragraph delves into the debate of whether innovative technologies like AI should be standalone products or integrated features within larger platforms. It uses TikTok as an example of a product that has successfully maintained its standalone status despite similar features being integrated into other platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. The script also mentions Snapchat stories, which, despite being replicated as a feature elsewhere, has allowed Snapchat to remain a popular platform. The discussion raises the question of whether AI can achieve a similar level of standalone success or if it is destined to become just another feature within established ecosystems. It also touches on the challenges of developing and training AI models, as demonstrated by Apple's efforts, and suggests that this could be a significant barrier for new companies entering the AI market.

Keywords

💡AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn. In the video, AI is discussed as both a standalone product and a feature integrated into existing systems. The debate is whether AI should be an independent product, like the Humane AI Pin, or a feature within larger platforms, like Apple's integration of AI functionalities across its operating systems.

💡WWDC

WWDC, or Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, is an annual event where Apple showcases its new software and technologies. In the video, WWDC is mentioned to highlight Apple's approach to AI, where AI is integrated as a feature across various applications and services, rather than being presented as a standalone product.

💡Feature vs. Product

This concept explores whether a new technology should be a standalone product or integrated as a feature in existing platforms. The video uses examples like Clubhouse and AI to discuss how some technologies start as standalone products but often become features within larger apps, influencing their success and adoption.

💡Clubhouse

Clubhouse is a social networking app based on audio chat. The video discusses its rapid rise during the pandemic and how its core functionality—live audio events—was later integrated as a feature in other platforms like Spotify and Twitter, which led to Clubhouse's decline.

💡Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence refers to the suite of AI-powered features and models developed by Apple. The video mentions how Apple has built various AI models for tasks like text generation and image creation, integrating them into their ecosystem rather than relying on external AI products like ChatGPT.

💡Humane AI Pin

The Humane AI Pin is a dedicated hardware device designed for AI interaction. The video mentions it as an example of AI as a standalone product, contrasting it with AI features integrated into broader platforms by companies like Apple.

💡ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI, used for generating human-like text. The video discusses its integration into Apple's ecosystem as a feature, highlighting the different approaches to incorporating AI into consumer products.

💡Vertical video carousel

This term refers to the format popularized by TikTok, where users scroll through vertically-oriented videos recommended by an algorithm. The video uses TikTok as an example of a successful standalone product that remains popular despite similar features being integrated into other platforms like Instagram and YouTube.

💡Twitter Spaces

Twitter Spaces is a feature that allows live audio conversations within the Twitter app. The video mentions it as an example of how features from standalone products like Clubhouse are incorporated into existing platforms, influencing their adoption and success.

💡Semantic index

A semantic index is a system that organizes information based on its meaning and context, making it easier for AI to understand and retrieve relevant data. The video discusses how Apple's new Siri uses a semantic index to better understand and interact with the user's data, enhancing the AI's functionality.

Highlights

AI is considered a feature rather than a product, as discussed on the Wired podcast.

Clubhouse's rise and fall exemplifies the transition of standalone products to features within larger platforms.

The integration of live audio features by major apps like Spotify, Discord, Slack, and Twitter led to the decline of Clubhouse.

The debate on whether AI should be a standalone product or an integrated feature is ongoing.

Examples of AI as a product include the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit r1, dedicated hardware for AI interaction.

Apple's WWDC showcased AI as a feature integrated into various operating systems.

New language models enable in-app writing tools for summarizing, proofreading, and tone/style adjustments.

Siri's enhancement with language models allows for better conversational understanding and context parsing.

Apple's approach to AI includes both proprietary models and a ChatGPT wrapper in their OS.

The high barrier to entry for creating and training AI models may limit new companies in the field.

Apple's development of its own AI models represents a significant investment in data and training.

The rarity of AI models being developed by companies other than tech giants suggests a potential market saturation.

TikTok and Snapchat are cited as examples of successful standalone products that resisted becoming mere features.

The success of standalone AI products like TikTok and Snapchat raises questions about the necessity to reach such a level to avoid becoming a feature.

The podcast concludes with a question about the future of AI as either a product or a feature and invites audience opinions.

Transcripts

(bold music) ♪ Show them ♪ - Okay, so I was listening

to the Wired podcast this morning

and they said something

that really nailed the way I think about

a lot of emerging technologies, especially AI.

What they said was WWDC, which we just had from Apple,

basically proved that AI is a feature, not a product,

and this hit so hard for me,

because that's the exact question

that we've been asking ourselves for so long here

about new stuff.

Is it a feature or a product?

So, I'll give you an example.

Do you remember Clubhouse?

We've talked about this before,

but Clubhouse back in the 2020s,

like, the pandemic era,

it was this meteoric rise to success.

There was this platform

that was just live audio stage events

that would disappear after they were over,

and that's kind of all it was.

It was super simple, but with everybody sitting at home,

it blew up in popularity.

It skyrockets to the top of the App Store.

Everyone starts using it.

It had major interviews happen on it.

Major new weekly shows were created on it.

There were huge famous people

participating in Clubhouses regularly.

But fast forward literally one year, maybe two,

and suddenly Spotify had built this feature into their app,

Discord had built the feature into their app.

They built Stages.

Slack had built it into their app.

Even Twitter had built it into their app.

They've got Spaces now.

And so suddenly, it was just a feature

inside of these larger apps.

So, the question became is Clubhouse,

this huge thing that came outta nowhere,

is this a product or is it just a feature,

and it turned out the success of all of the features

and all the other apps that built it in

meant that Clubhouse would just die,

like, and a lot of the other ones eventually ended up dying.

I think we still have Twitter Spaces,

but generally it just became a feature.

And there are actually many examples of these,

which is why the product versus feature question

still keeps coming up over and over again.

So now, the newest question.

Is AI a product or a feature,

because we got to see what it looked like

as a standalone product.

Like, we just had in 2024, we had the Humane AI Pin,

which was a dedicated piece of hardware

specifically for engaging with an AI.

We got the Rabbit r1,

another device that promised to be, like,

this physical embodiment of an assistant

you have everywhere.

Now, both these devices were bad

and they didn't work very well,

but let's say they did.

Let's say they actually worked well and were fine.

That would be AI as a product,

and you could even consider, like,

going to the ChatGPT website and using it there

as AI as a product.

But then fast forward now to just a few months later

and we just had Apple's WWDC,

and we also just had Google I/O,

and very different approach.

Like, look what happened with Apple.

Just like clockwork, they went through

and systematically added all these AI features

sprinkled throughout a bunch of its operating systems.

So, for example, inside of any app

with the ability to write text,

you now have these writing tools that pop up

that are powered by these new language models

that can help you summarize, or proofread,

or change the tone or style of your writing,

and then there's also a new Siri, you know,

powered by these language models again,

so it can hold conversations better

and understand context better

and use a semantic index to parse info

about various files and things on your device

and bring them into Siri's understanding.

You can literally generate images

as a feature on your device.

You can generate emojis.

The list goes on,

but the point is it's clearly a very different way

of thinking about AI for the consumer,

where it's just one of the features

built into the thing that you use.

Now, I realize this isn't a perfect analogy.

I think probably the biggest flaw

being that, you know, when they integrated these features,

like when Slack, when Twitter built Spaces,

when they built these features,

they didn't integrate Clubhouse into those bigger websites.

They actually just took the idea of what Clubhouse is,

which is just a live audio event on stage

and they built it themselves into their own apps,

so Clubhouse was left to die.

But in this specific case with Apple,

it's actually a combination of two things.

It's them building a bunch of their own models

to do a lot of these things on device,

but then also them literally building a ChatGPT wrapper

into a lot of their OS,

so ChatGPT actually gets more users this way.

So, I thought this was fun to think about.

Now, there is no answer yet

as far as is AI actually a feature or a product?

Which one will win? Which one will lose? We don't know.

But I think if history is any indication,

I do think that more people in the long run

are going to end up using this AI stuff as a feature

more than going to, like, a standalone thing.

Like, I was looking back for other examples of this,

and I honestly found it really hard to find any examples

of the other way around happening,

where the individual product becomes far more successful

than the same idea being baked as a feature

into something larger.

Like, I think TikTok is maybe the best example

of this opposite version,

where TikTok is, it's a vertical video carousel

with an algorithm that learns really quickly

what video you wanna see next, right?

That's what TikTok is.

Like, we've seen Instagram Reels

develop that exact same thing.

Now it's a huge feature for them.

Same thing with YouTube Shorts.

We've got all of YouTube, but inside of YouTube

is this vertically-scrolling carousel with an algorithm.

But I still think today, we would say TikTok

is the most popular version of that idea,

so the standalone version is winning currently

over it being built in as a feature.

And maybe Snapchat is another one, kinda?

Like, Snapchat stories

was one of the biggest features in Snapchat,

and then that kinda got ripped

into being a feature everywhere else.

Like, everyone has stories,

but Snapchat by itself is doing well.

But anyway, the question is do you have to get all the way

to the level of Snapchat or TikTok

in order to be successful as a standalone product

to defeat the fact that your thing

could just become a feature somewhere?

But yeah, that is now the question with AI.

It just struck me as such a difference in approach

between the product and the feature version of it,

and it also struck me that, yeah,

it feels like Rabbit and Humane

were kinda doomed from the start

because there's no way they would also develop

all the other benefits of the big things,

those being smartphones.

But also one more quick thing I wanted to highlight

that I don't think got as much attention

as it maybe deserved,

which is all of these models that we've been talking about

with WWDC,

all of the models under the umbrella of Apple Intelligence,

the diffusion model, the image generation model,

the language models are all built by Apple.

Like, there was a whole moment on Twitter

with a lot of confusion

over just how integrated ChatGPT is into iOS.

I think it's actually not really that integrated at all.

So, Apple had to go through the work

of obviously making all these models,

but also training them all,

and so we've asked Apple about this.

They've had to go through finding publicly available data,

and licensing, and doing that whole dance,

and spending the millions and millions of dollars required

to make these models work.

So, that is a really higher barrier to entry,

but it's only the once in a while

that the request is complex enough

or deals with enough real-world data,

which isn't in Apple's training,

that it actually asks, "Okay, can I go out to ChatGPT?"

and it asks every single time,

which feels about as unintegrated as it gets,

but generally I think this is gonna be something

that's really hard for other companies,

for any new companies to pull off.

This might be the last big set of models we get to see.

So, unless you're Apple or Google or Microsoft or OpenAI

or any of the other massive ones that are safe,

because they'll get integrated now,

probably don't have much of a shot.

But either way, this has been really interesting

to think about.

AI, is it a product or a feature?

Can it be both, or does it have to be one or the other,

and one wins and the other loses?

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

We'll hang out there.

Either way, thanks for watching, thanks for subscribing,

and I'll catch you guys in the next one.

Peace.

(bold music)