Linked – Is AI the new bloatware?
Remember bloatware? Those programs and add-ons that used to come preinstalled on PCs and other devices. They didn’t serve any purpose but took up space and CPU resources, forcing users to either figure out how to uninstall them or deal with degraded performance when they couldn’t.
Are the AI tools being added to every mobile device out there going to recreate this problem for users who don’t want AI on their smartphones?
AI has quickly become a part of the mobile landscape. But what does that mean for the future of our devices’ operating systems and hardware?
Whether you consider it bloatware or not may depend on your plan to use AI on a mobile device, but one thing is for sure about all hardware and many services that are adding AI features: They’re getting more expensive.
Adding the power to run AI tools locally costs money. If all Pixel phones are going to do all the AI work on photos and all the iPhones are going to process ChatGPT interactions locally, that’s going to require more expensive hardware.
If all Windows PCs will come with Recall, the same thing applies. The chips that can handle these transactions are in high demand and are not cheap.
I would not be surprised to see many of our favorite online services integrating AI start seeing significant price increases. Just look at what has already happened with Canva. I expect to see this happen many times over, and while they are correct, adding AI tools does mean the service is more expensive to run. It also means that users who don’t want the AI don’t have much of a choice. You’ll end up paying for it either way.
The question isn’t whether things are about to get more expensive but whether AI provides enough to make it worthwhile. I don’t see it. I think the pushback with Canva wasn’t about raising prices as much as the amount. Is the AI tool built into Canva giving you 300% more value? I doubt it. Other things are going on with the Cnva licensing that may make that worse than it will be for other services, but that same question will be asked. Is the benefit worth the price I’m being asked to pay?
Take something like Copilot for M365. I can make a case for $360 per year. As a user, I’m basically asking it to save me a few hours every month, and Copilot probably does that.
On the other hand, is it worth the tens of thousands of dollars an organization will have to pay in licensing and resources to secure and monitor the use of AI across all licensed employees? That’s an entirely different question. It’s also much more challenging to lay before the people who sign the checks. It gets complicated.
I think that’s the biggest takeaway I have from the article below: we’re headed for an AI future in terms of costs, even if our futures don’t necessarily include using AI tools that often. That could present a problem for small businesses and the digital divide. Those who can pay the increased prices will continue moving forward, and those who can’t will fall further behind.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-ai-the-new-bloatware/
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