Watching the reviews of and reactions to Humane’s AI Pin has been interesting. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a product get such favorable pre-release coverage, then seemingly fall so flat upon release. Wearable tech is in an interesting place right now. There’s a rush to shove…ummmm…I mean integrate large language models (LLMs) into anything with a CPU, regardless of their quality or performance. Regardless, the AI Pin is exciting because there is so much untapped potential in ubiquitous, always-on computing. Which brings me to the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch was originally announced with three defining purposes:

• a precise, customizable timepiece
• an intimate way to connect and communicate
• a comprehensive health & fitness companion
  

We don’t hear much about anything other than health & fitness anymore. On some level that makes sense, the most popular wearables before the Apple Watch were fitness related in some way shape or form (Fitbit). Fitness wearables are a concept that people are familiar with, and has clearly been the right direction for selling the watch. But it seems clear that Apple initially had broader ideas and ambitions for what people might use a smartwatch for.

We are nearing the point where it makes sense for Apple reconsider pursuing a marketing focus for Apple Watch beyond fitness. When I look at the Humane AI Pin, I see a lot of potential utility, but the wrong form factor. Wearable technology needs to seamlessly blend into our lives to gain mainstream acceptance. The AI Pin, in its current state, demands too much attention and focus to gain that ubiquity. If you take the goals of the Pin, and apply them to the Apple Watch (or any smartwatch), things start to make a lot more sense.

As Apple continues to make the Apple Watch smaller, it becomes more discreet and blends in more like a standard dumb watch. It’s the rare Apple product that really should fade into the background. The Watch hardware supports many of the functions of the AI Pin, with the added benefit of a screen that more capable and discreet than the admittedly cool looking laser projector screen the Pin offers. I imagine using that projector screen draws more attention than I would like in public, while potentially being unusable in sunny conditions.

An Apple Watch with an LLM powered Siri could be a game changer. Especially for those of us with cellular watches. It would provide a way to surface AI capabilities without the inherent distractions of our smartphones, while maintaining the aforementioned relative discretion. I personally look forward to the day when I can go places and leave my phone in the car because my Watch has all of my on-the-go computing needs covered.

There are some things that would need to happen before this is viable. One is, of course, a better Siri which is widely expected to be announced at WWDC this year. There’s been some speculation that the Siri brand might be toxic at this point, and it might be in Apple’s best interest to rebrand. My feeling is that the outsized amount of hate Siri gets over most other voice assistants is mostly a tech echo chamber thing. In my experience, normal people either tolerate or hate these virtual assistants all the same.

Another needed improvement would be a hefty battery life increase for the standard watches. The Apple Watch Ultra apparently has pretty decent battery life, but for those of us with small wrists, wearing something that big and bulky looks pretty ridiculous. LLMs are known for their hefty power and resource needs. A model small enough to run on a phone or watch is still going to use a lot of power. Apple Watch’s 18 hour battery life target does not assume more frequent usage patterns, and if Siri became more usable on the Watch, I can imagine people using it more like a primary device.

There also the issue of the Apple Watch’s lack of a camera. The AI Pin is essentially able to see what you see via its outward facing camera. And while taking photos and video is a nice benefit, this is more important for seeing and analyzing data about your surroundings. Just being able to scan a QR code with my Apple Watch would be a remove a huge barrier to leaving my phone in the car more often. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen rumors about an Apple Watch with a camera, and honestly, I’m not really sure that I really want that. But it feels like there’s a set of use cases where a camera would provide some real utility for an AI powered watch.

Time will tell if Apple is able to seize this opportunity to move the Apple Watch beyond being another fitness wearable, to being a truly revolutionary and truly personal computer.