The Inhumane Pivot

SIWOOO

A dumbphone messiah to generative AI hype casualty

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

For Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, the blind promise of AI illuminated that road. As their much-hyped AI Pin device hit the market last week, they soon faced disastrous reviews, and it became clear that Humane had lost its way. What happens if you succumb to the siren song of the AI hype train?

Chaudhri and Bongiorno's story began nobly enough back in 2018. Both ex-Applers, with a wealth of experience in interaction design, dreamed of a technology that would foster genuine human connection rather than the compulsive, slot-machine engagement that smartphones had come to represent.

We were welcoming the era of digital minimalism. From the Light Phone with its e-ink display to custom Android mods that ruthlessly blocked social media, Humane saw an opportunity to make its mark.

"A thoughtfully designed, distraction-free device that would help people unplug and live in the moment on weekends and vacations."

The company name, Humane, said it all — this was technology with a soul that respected our fundamental humanity.

But then something changed, around 2022-2023. Humane's resolve wavered as the LLM-powered chatbot craze began sweeping the tech world last year.

After all, Humane seemed so tempted to jump on the generative AI bandwagon and proclaim it a panacea for all the ills of modern gadgetry. Suddenly, the AI Pin morphed from a noble stab at digital asceticism into an awkwardly positioned hybrid.

In this pivot, Humane forgot the #1 rule of hardware

form factors demand thoughtful new interface paradigms. From the invention of the GUI to capacitive multi-touch, the most impactful hardware breakthroughs in computing history have always been accompanied by detailed UX research tailored to the device's unique constraints and affordances.

People literally wow-ed when they first saw the inertial scroll.

Let's rewind back a little bit. The iPhone's success can be largely attributed to its user experience, which introduced clever features like rubberbanding and inertial effects. These works inspired creative solutions for organizing information on the compact screen, such as tabs and master-detail views. These ergonomic and user-friendly interfaces were crucial to the iPhone's triumph, and without them, it would not have achieved such widespread adoption. In contrast, Humane's AI Pin seems to neglect to explore these essential UX realms.

Some critics may argue that the AI Pin's limited screen poses challenges for displaying data. However, similar concerns were raised when the iPhone debuted, and Apple's designers overcame those obstacles through clever designs.