The Promise and Limits of 'AI PCs' with Neural Processing Units
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"AI PCs" have neural processing units (NPUs) for AI tasks, but Windows 11 can't use them yet beyond basic video call effects.
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Future Windows updates may deliver interesting AI features powered by NPUs, but not until late 2024.
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Current consumer AI tools like Copilot don't need an NPU and work the same on any PC.
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Open source creative apps have some AI plug-ins that use NPUs, but it's not consumer friendly.
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For running AI models locally, a powerful GPU still beats an NPU for performance. “AI PCs” aren't very useful yet.