Are Copilot PCs the Future of Personal Computing?

[Brian]

Microsoft introduced its Copilot+ AI-powered PCs recently. I am "AI-hesitant" myself. I am not sure of having AI on a chip. On the other hand, I know it's the future of everything. And it can do some cool things. The features they demonstrated seem pretty cool. Call me old-school, but I'm not sure I want it controlling my PC and data. I do that myself 🙂  

[shockersh]

OK so you caught me cold. What exactly is an AI chip? I have a monster GPU in my box so I assume that's my AI chip. Is this a Microsoft gimmick or what?

[Brian]

@shockersh It's a Neural Processing Unit or NPU. Simply put, it's a specialized processor designed to carry out AI tasks (Copilot+, ChatGPT, Gemini, Dall-E). We have an explainer you can check out here:
https://www.groovypost.com/explainer/npu-101-neural-processing-unit-ai/

[Jeff Butts]

5 hours ago, shockersh said:

OK so you caught me cold. What exactly is an AI chip? I have a monster GPU in my box so I assume that's my AI chip. Is this a Microsoft gimmick or what?

To follow up on what Brian said, your GPU will serve as an AI chip if your computer lacks an NPU. However, dedicated NPUs are designed strictly for AI tasks and tend to be better at it.

[shockersh]

OK Gotcha.

So... for ppl who can't afford a wicked GPU, they can get a lame PC with an NPU. Got it.