At Lenovo’s Tech World 2024, each Lenovo and Motorola presented groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, aiming to push the boundaries of hyper-personalization in consumer technology. Lenovo debuted “AI Now,” a generative artificial intelligence (genAI) system built on Meta’s Llama 3.1 AI model, which guarantees to make PCs smarter by turning them into personalized digital assistants. The standout feature? Hyper-personalization without compromising user privacy.
Unlike most AI systems that depend on cloud computing, AI Now keeps interactions stored locally on the device. Furthermore, the genAI assistant running on the PC is powered by the system hardware and a Local Large Language Model (Local LLM), a one-of-a-kind innovation that not only limits the AI’s interaction with the cloud but can deliver responses to user queries without a web connection.
Likewise, Motorola (a Lenovo company) previewed “Moto AI,” a genAI assistant that goals to make smartphones hands-free. Users can now manage their devices with voice commands, and features like “Catch Me Up” and “Pay Attention” help summarize personal communications or transcribe conversations for review. The “Remember This” feature also enables users to capture live moments or on-screen information through voice and gesture commands.
,” Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo Group, told me.
Each brands are betting on genAI to drive the next-gen of AI-powered consumer tech. But can these AI advancements deliver on their guarantees without compromising user privacy?
A Recent Era of Assistants: Can We Trust AI with Sensitive Data?
Lenovo’s AI Now offers hyper-personalized AI features, storing user data locally throughout the user’s system hardware. The AI can summarize documents, transcribe meetings, and even adjust device settings based on natural language input—all without a web connection. The innovation is powered by a singular architecture combining the CPU, GPU, and NPU to power the AI system and user interactions locally, making a Personal Knowledge Base (PKB) stored entirely on the device.
AI Now doesn’t just perform tasks; it retains context and memory, so users don’t have to reintroduce their preferences. This creates a more natural, continuous interaction. Lenovo asserts that the local LLM architecture is a “first within the industry innovation”, that may deliver personalized consumer experiences while safeguarding data privacy.
” Tolga Kurtoglu, CTO of Lenovo, told me.
Motorola’s Moto AI also harnesses the facility of Local LLM and LAM technology to streamline on a regular basis tasks in your phone—from setting alarms to generating contextual insights from captured or stored content. As an illustration, if you snap a photograph, Moto AI works quietly within the background, pulling in essential details and context concerning the image. With just an easy voice command, you possibly can revisit those memories anytime.
During its demonstration, Motorola showcased how Moto AI can operate autonomously, mimicking human-like interaction without the user needing to the touch the screen—something other AI assistants, like Siri or Google Gemini, struggle to attain. Users can simply say commands like “Book an Uber” or “Reserve dinner at my favorite restaurant,” and watch because the AI executes these tasks right before their eyes, with an interface that easily mirrors typical human smartphone interactions.
Motorola’s revolutionary approach integrates multiple AI models from OpenAI, Stability AI, and others, allowing the AI to excel in specific tasks. The corporate goals to position Moto AI as a direct competitor to established leaders within the AI assistant space, including Apple’s Siri and Google’s Gemini, each of that are heavily investing in generative AI and consumer data security. Nevertheless, a noteworthy aspect of Moto AI is its continuous recording of activities occurring throughout the phone, enabling it to read notifications, emails, and messages internally. So, is Moto AI truly protected for consumers?
Privacy vs. Convenience: How Secure Are These AI Systems?
While the convenience of those AI assistants is obvious, the query of privacy stays a major concern. This might raise alarms that the phone’s AI assistant knows more concerning the user’s personal life than themselves, even whether it is processed locally. In response to consumer data privacy concerns, Jeff Snow, Motorola’s Head of AI and Software Experiences, emphasized that the AI assistant centralizes sensitive user data to the phone itself.
Lenovo and Motorola are currently focused on balancing AI-powered convenience with privacy protection. Their on-device AI systems offer enhanced personalization, but public trust in AI assistants will hinge on users’ confidence in data security. Will consumers embrace the convenience while not being completely assured their personal data is protected? The reply to this query could shape the longer term of AI-driven consumer technology.