As the second wave of AI PCs has hit the market, two issues are instantly clear. One, the ecosystem gamers are taking a look at neural processing models (NPUs) as the subsequent large factor in compute, and not only a gimmick. Second, authentic tools producers (OEMs) are nonetheless aiming to create a model identification round AI PC.
The former commentary is comprehensible given the huge rise of the factitious intelligence (AI) house within the final 12 months. According to knowledge from Precedence Research, the worldwide AI market grew from $638.23 billion in 2023-24 to $757.58 billion in 2024-25, increasing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.72 %.
HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14
The second commentary, nevertheless, is extra intriguing. Since AI PC is a comparatively new house and OEMs lack experience in software program growth, most haven’t discovered sensible methods to supply instruments that permits customers to expertise this know-how. However, if a model has to face out within the AI PC house, it should discover methods to supply distinctive AI-focused options that aren’t current of their rivals’ units.
HP, which just lately launched its OmniBook, EliteBook, and ProGuide sequence, is specializing in this precise downside, and has a novel strategy to remedy it. The firm’s AI PCs are outfitted with three completely different instruments — the HP AI Companion, the myHP app, and the Poly Studio internet digital camera. And for the final couple of weeks, I’ve been testing out these options to know whether or not they add worth to the lives of an common person or not.
The California-based laptop model has added an AI-powered on-device chatbot in all of its AI PCs, dubbed HP AI Companion. It serves as a private assistant, a doc evaluation device, and a conversational strategy to management among the machine settings.
HP says the AI Companion is powered by a model of GPT-4 which operates completely regionally, that means any knowledge shared with the chatbot by no means leaves the machine. It is powered by the on-device NPU, and is built-in with each the system in addition to all of the information saved on it.
Discover in HP AI Companion
There are three interfaces to the AI Companion — Discover, Analyse, and Perform. Discover is for individuals who are new to AI chatbots and wish to discover the know-how. Here, customers can ask the AI any common queries, in addition to assign any generative duties reminiscent of writing a weblog or an essay. One factor to notice right here is that for the reason that chatbot shouldn’t be related to the Internet, it may not be capable of reply questions on real-time occasions. The Discover panel can also be the place the place HP offers a newsfeed of summarised matters customers can use for inspiration.
Perhaps essentially the most attention-grabbing function of the HP AI Companion is the Analyse perform. Users can add any doc or file, and the device can rapidly summarise the content material. It can even entry information saved within the person’s personal Azure drive. In my temporary utilization, I used to be capable of get it to summarise analysis papers and massive paperwork precisely. It additionally provides citations so customers could be redirected to the supply within the doc and get in-depth data.
Analyse in HP AI Companion
What makes Analyse stand out is that it provides the textual content summarisation functionality immediately on-device and without cost. Users can even evaluate paperwork, spotlight key factors, and even filter particular knowledge. Those who care about each frugality and knowledge privateness, the mixture is tough to seek out until you personal one of many costly AI-enabled smartphones, such because the Samsung Galaxy S25 sequence.
Apart from this, the HP AI Companion additionally comes with the Perform interface, which is a conversational interface to entry system settings. For occasion, should you’re already engaged on AI Companion, and all of a sudden struggle the show brightness to be insufficient, you’ll be able to go to the Perform web page and inform it to “increase brightness by 70 percent,” and it should. Some different settings customers can management utilizing the interface embrace Accessories, Audio, Camera, Display, and Gestures.
Perform in HP AI Companion
But that is not all. The interface additionally lets customers keep system drivers, BIOS, and firmware – all of which could be up to date proper from one display. Perform can even present troubleshooting info from HP assist to assist customers configure settings. HP claims that the AI additionally learns from person behaviour and can modify the optimum configuration based mostly on what the person is doing.
Overall, the chatbot is a complete providing from HP that shall be helpful for each these new to the AI know-how and these skilled with it.
In 2020, the PC model first launched myHP as a central hub for units. The firm just lately refreshed the app and added AI capabilities to it. It is designed as a customisation platform that lets customers tweak completely different options of the machine to their desire. The house web page of myHP reveals varied instruments and settings that may be accessed, reminiscent of Audio, Video, Display, Touchpad, Presence Sensing, Gestures, and extra.
myHP house web page
Each of those settings permits you to rapidly entry the controls to tweak varied customisation settings. For occasion, within the System Control tab, customers can allow the Performance mode of the laptop computer and choose from a variety of choices.
In the presence sensing tab, they will modify varied choices for when the machine turns the display off. For occasion, customers can specify how far the person is from the machine and for a way lengthy earlier than the show turns off. Similar choices can be found to wake the machine or dim the brightness. These choices are geared toward letting customers choose the precise configuration that they need.
myHP System Controls
The AI integration comes into play because the person spends extra time with the machine and adjusts completely different settings for various utilization. The AI data the patterns and then routinely adjusts the settings based mostly on person behaviour.
myHP Presence Sensing
While the thought behind the myHP app is nice, I really feel that duplication of settings shouldn’t be essentially a requirement for many customers. However, for individuals who desire a helpful one-stop store for all their customisation controls, this may very well be a game-changer.
Finally, HP has additionally made some AI-based adjustments to its Poly Camera Pro app. It is the corporate’s in-house internet digital camera app, which additionally connects to completely different video conferencing platforms reminiscent of Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
In 2022, HP acquired Poly for $3.3 billion. In the next years, the corporate launched the Poly Camera Pro, an internet digital camera app that gives a number of customisation options. Take the background management, for instance. It provides a number of modes, reminiscent of portrait, highlight, and inexperienced display, which routinely monitor the topic so as to add the specified impact to the display.
HP’s Poly Camera Pro options
The framing device additionally permits customers to regulate the digital camera to numerous video streaming platforms, be it vertical or horizontal, all whereas guaranteeing that the topic is centred. There are additionally a number of built-in templates that customers can add to keep away from the generic on-camera/off-camera look. Templates may also be created to permit customers to design the right video search for themselves.
In my temporary expertise with the Poly Camera Pro, I discovered the customisation choices aplenty and helpful. Since the customisations additionally seem on third-party video conferencing apps as nicely, it’s a handy method to make sure your look stays fixed in all conferences.
If you might be new to the thought of AI-powered private computer systems, then HP’s AI PCs are an incredible place to begin to know what this know-how can do for you. Since all of those AI-powered instruments run regionally on the machine, you don’t have to fret about knowledge privateness points, and can slowly accustom your self with the AI assistant that may reply your fundamental queries, analyse and summarise your paperwork, assist you to customise your machine to new heights, and assist you to take a look at your sharpest in each assembly.
And should you’re an skilled AI person, you’ll be able to at all times discover GitHub and Hugging Face on your favorite open-source AI mannequin and run them regionally in your machine with the built-in NPU.