“Father of the iPod” Tony Fadell has written a lengthy column in which he argues that our choice of AI assistant really matters, but also raises some huge questions that need to be addressed.

He says the reason the iPhone has stood the test of time is because Apple understood the behavioral shifts it would create, not just the technology shift, and the same will be true of AI assistants …

Fadell points to the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone (and, rather less convincingly, Nest) as being about more than just making technology more accessible.

Every one of these transitions had something in common: taking a capability that used to be rare, difficult or expensive and making it more accessible. The builders who understood the behavioral shift, not just the technology shift, were the ones who built something that lasted.

He effectively argues that of all of the companies competing in this field, Apple is one of the best placed.

No single cloud service can see the full picture of your life. But a connected ecosystem of devices can. Your phone knows your location, your watch knows your heart rate, your laptop knows your calendar, your glasses know who you’re talking to. Each signal is useful alone. Combined, they create a much more powerful portrait the assistant can use to understand you.

This is what I call the Federation of Devices. Whoever controls this Federation of Devices has the foundation to build the most trusted and most valuable AI assistant.

He also says that we need to address some difficult questions – one of which is whether what we’re building might be too powerful.

There’s the question nobody in the industry wants to ask. An assistant that knows you better than most people, is always available, is endlessly patient, is never judgmental… that’s a very powerful tool. Possibly too powerful and addictive in ways we haven’t fully reckoned with.

He likens it to the iPhone, which transformed our lives for the better in a great many ways, but also contributed to the problem of smartphone addiction and social isolation. He says this time we need to think about this issue from the outset.

This time we’re choosing something that will know how we think, work and live. That’s never happened before. Humans are at the center of this platform shift. Build it like it matters.

It’s well worth reading the full piece over at CNET. What are your own thoughts on the topic? Please share in the comments.

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