Microsoft, AMD and Intel are all pushing the idea of AI PCs, but is it anything more than marketing-speak? We find out
CONTRIBUTORS: Barry Collins, Tim Danton
Remember when 3D screens were the next big thing? What about virtual reality? Or 5G? The truth is that the technology industry loves buzzwords almost as much as it loves the tech itself, and its latest crush is AI PCs.
But here’s the thing: if you ask five different vendors what an AI PC is you’d get five different answers. AMD and Intel will explain that it’s all about their new silicon, which now includes neural processing units to go along with CPUs. Nvidia will point to its hugely powerful RTX GPUs. Microsoft will tout its mix of remote and local platforms.
Truth is, the definition is hazy. By some definitions, you already have an AI PC to hand via the mobile phone in your pocket. It’s personal, it computes, and if it’s a recent Apple, Google or Samsung phone then it includes plenty of AI-enhanced features. Magic Eraser is one obvious example.
So let’s lay down a simple working definition. An AI PC – for the duration of these six pages, at least – is a laptop or desktop PC that includes a processor with a neural processing unit (NPU). That means an Intel Core Ultra, any AMD Ryzen processor with Ryzen AI built in, and Apple MacBooks and Mac desktops with an M1, M2 or M3 series chip.
With that settled, let’s get to work. What’s the point of an AI PC? What can it actually do? What options are available? And, the fundamental question, should you buy one?
WHAT CAN AN AI PC DO NOW?
If you’re in the market for a new PC and are weighing up whether to invest in a so-called AI PC, you might reasonably wonder what advantages it will bring over an “ordinary” PC.
We’ll come to the benefits afforded by the piece of hardware that pretty much defines an AI PC – the neural processing unit or NPU – shortly, but there’s another distinguishing piece of hardware found on many AI PCs: the Copilot key.
Calling for a Copilot
The Copilot key was billed as the first major change to PC keyboard layouts in almost 30 years, replacing the menu key to the right-hand side of the spacebar. It’s basically a shortcut for opening the Copilot assistant in Windows 11, sparing you the enormous effort o
