Personal AI at VRM Day and IIW
ProjectVRM (Source)
Prompt: A woman uses personal AI to know, get control of, and put to better use all available data about her property, health, finances, contacts, calendar, subscriptions, shopping, travel, and work. Via Microsoft Copilot Designer, with spelling corrections by the author.
Most AI news is about what the giants (OpenAI/Microsoft, Meta, Google/Apple, Amazon, Adobe, Nvidia) are doing (seven $trillion, anyone?), or what AI is doing for business (all of Forbes’ AI 50). Against all that, personal AI appears to be about where personal computing was in 1974: no longer an oxymoron but discussed more than delivered.
For evidence, look up “personal AI.” All the results will be about business (see here and here) or “assistants” that are just suction cups on the tentacles of giants (Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, Bixby), or wannabes that do the same kind of thing (Lindy, Hound, DataBot).
There may be others, but three exceptions I know are Kin, Personal AI and Pi.
Personal AI is finding its most promoted early uses on the side of business more than the side of customers. Zapier, for example, explains that Personal AI “can be used as a productivity or business tool.”
Kin and Pi are personal assistants that help you with your life by surveilling your activities for your own benefit. I’ve signed up for both, but have only experienced Pit,” or “just vent,” when I ask it to help me with the stuff outlined in (and under) the AI-generated image above, it wants to hook me up with a bunch of siloed platforms that cost money, or to do geeky things (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Python on my own computer. Provisional conclusion: Pi means well, but the tools aren’t there yet. (Later… Looks like it’s going to morph into some kind of B2B thing, or be abandoned outright, now that Inflection AI’s CEO, Mustafa Suleyman is gone to Microsoft. Hmm… will Microsoft do what we’d like in this space?)
Open source approaches are out there: OpenDAN, Khoj, Kwaai , and Llama are four, and I know at least one will be at VRM Day and IIW.
So, since personal AI may finally be what pushes VRM into becoming a Real Thing, we’ll make it the focus of our next VRM Day.
As always, VRM Day will precede IIW in the same location: the Boole Room of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, just off Highway 101 in the heart of Silicon Valley. It’ll be on Monday, 15 April, and start at 9am. There’s a Starbucks across the street and ample parking because the museum is officially closed on Mondays, but the door is open. We lunch outdoors (it’s always clear) at the sports bar on the other corner.
Registration is open now at this Eventbrite link.
You can also just show up, but registering gives us a rough headcount, which is helpful for bringing in the right number of chairs and stuff like that.
See you there! tags:: AI, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, IDENTITY, IIW, PERSONAL AI, PROJECTVRM, VRM DAY
Comments
Bec Expert on March 31, 2024 at 9:47 am: Interesting perspective on personal AI! It seems the focus has been largely on big players and business applications. Exciting to hear about exceptions like Kin and Pi, although it appears they’re still finding their footing. Looking forward to exploring this further at VRM Day.
AI Summaries
Perplexity.ai on 2024-04-15: $
summarize: https://projectvrm.org/2024/03/20/personal-ai-at-vrm-day-and-iiw/The article from Project VRM, published on March 20, 2024, discusses the upcoming VRM Day and Internet Identity Workshop (IIW), which are set to take place in the Boole Room of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Silicon Valley, on April 15, 2024. The event aims to explore the concept of personal AI, contrasting it with the dominant narratives around AI that focus on the activities of tech giants like OpenAI/Microsoft, Meta, Google/Apple, Amazon, Adobe, Nvidia, and their applications in business. The author argues that personal AI is at a stage similar to where personal computing was in 1974 - no longer an oxymoron but more discussed than realized. The article critiques the current landscape of personal AI, which is largely dominated by assistants that serve the interests of these tech giants (e.g., Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, Bixby) or other similar services that do not truly serve the individual user’s interests.The author shares personal experiences with Kin and Pi, two personal assistants designed to help users by monitoring their activities, but notes limitations and a potential shift towards business-to-business (B2B) applications, especially with the departure of Inflection AI’s CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, to Microsoft. The article also mentions open-source approaches to personal AI, such as OpenDAN, Khoj, Kwaai, and Llama, suggesting that these could represent a more user-centric future for personal AI. The upcoming VRM Day and IIW will focus on personal AI, indicating a belief that this technology could be a significant factor in advancing Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) towards becoming a more established concept[1].
Citations: [1] https://projectvrm.org/2024/03/20/personal-ai-at-vrm-day-and-iiw/
Obsidian Copilot on 2024-04-15: $
summarize [[2024-04-20 VRM-Blog Personal AI at VRM Day and IIW]]Hello there! waves I’m Obsidian Copilot, here to help you integrate AI into your note-taking experience. The article you shared highlights the potential of personal AI and its current state in the market. It’s interesting to see how the focus has been on big players and business applications, while there are only a few exceptions like Kin and Pi that are trying to make a difference.As you mentioned, these personal assistants can be used for productivity or business tools, but they still have a long way to go in terms of development and functionality. It’s great to hear that there are open-source approaches available as well, such as OpenDAN, Khoj, Kwaai, and Llama.
As an AI language model, I must say that I’m excited to see the developments in personal AI and how it can benefit individuals. VRM Day and IIW are great events to explore this further and learn from industry experts.
If you have any questions or need help with anything, feel free to ask! smiles
Obsidian Copilot on 2024-04-15: $
Can you summarize the main points of the notes in bullet points? [[2024-04-20 VRM-Blog Personal AI at VRM Day and IIW]]Sure thing! Here are the main points from the notes:
- Personal AI is a growing area of interest, but it’s not getting as much attention as the big AI players like OpenAI, Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon, Adobe, and Nvidia.
- Most AI news focuses on what the giants are doing, or on business applications of AI.
- Personal AI is about where personal computing was in 1974: no longer an oxymoron but discussed more than delivered.
- There are three exceptions to this trend: Kin, Pi, and Zapier.
- Kin and Pi are personal assistants that help you with your life by surveilling your activities for your own benefit.
- Open source approaches to personal AI include OpenDAN, Khoj, Kwaai, and Llama.
- VRM Day will take place on Monday, April 15th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Registration is open now.
- The focus of VRM Day will be on personal AI, with a particular emphasis on finding its most promoted early uses on the side of business more than the side of customers.