You don’t need an AI assistant in a box like the new Rabbit R1—unless it’s your smartphone

The reviews of the Rabbit R1 AI-assistant-in-a-box are in, and they are less than glowing. To be sure, the half-phone-sized orange device has not received the critical mauling that befell the Humane AI Pin, another wearable AI assistant that recently launched.

The R1's reception has been warmer partly because it's much cheaper ($199 vs $699 plus a $24-per-month subscription) and partly because it works somewhat better. But there seems to be a lot of frustration around the fact that, like the Pin, it doesn’t yet do everything that was promised.

Specifically, the R1’s AI is supposed to be able to use a bunch of apps on behalf of its bearer, but at launch, it only works with four: Spotify, Uber, DoorDash, and AI image-generator Midjourney. Add to that a shockingly low battery life of around four hours, a clunky UI and…well, here’s tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, who ranted about the R1 along with certain big-budget video games and Tesla vehicles: “These AI-based products are at the apex of this horrible trend where the thing that you get at the beginning is borderline nonfunctional compared to all the promises and all the features and all the things that it’s supposed to maybe someday be. But you still pay full price at the beginning.”

Ouch. Now, I haven’t gotten my hands on the R1 (though as a musician I’m always intrigued by products from its co-designer, Teenage Engineering, which are usually musical instruments). Nor have I tried the Humane AI Pin. But I do have some thoughts on the genre of wearable AI assistants nonetheless.

In short: Why? Smarter AI assistants are already entering our smartphones this year, thanks to the well-resourced companies that make them. So what is a separate device that comes with its own cost, needs its own charging, and comes with significant limitations supposed to achieve?

Don’t get me wrong—I wouldn’t be a tech journalist if I didn’t love innovation, and it’s great to see people trying out crazy new ideas. But the beauty of the modern smartphone is that it subsumes a bunch of other things, from cameras to navigational aids to wallets. The smartphone is a simplifier and it’s darn good at it, especially with the strides that have been made in recent years regarding miniaturized optics, processing power, and battery life. It frees us from having to buy and carry around more stuff than is strictly necessary, which is boon to both our bank accounts and the environment. Why introduce more stuff that just replicates a subset of the smartphone’s functionality, but worse?

I’m very intrigued by the idea of using the R1 as an agent, but again, you don’t need a separate device for that. It’s a very similar idea to that espoused by Deutsche Telekom earlier this year when the German communications giant showed off a concept smartphone with an AI concierge acting as its interface. I wasn’t sold on DT’s claim that this innovation would kill off the app, but even if it does, we’re talking about a new kind of phone, with a big friendly screen and all the other stuff you like to use, not a complementary device. Another important point here is that, if we’re talking about AI assistants that need to learn about us to act as our agents, there can be no better hub for that to happen than the endlessly multifunctional smartphone.

A big part of the pitch for these new devices is that they’re supposed to free us from the tyranny of the smartphone’s screen, with all its tempting, addiction-stimulating notifications. Well, okay, but we already know that you can embed assistant functionality into other things that we already use, like headphones or Meta’s smart Ray-Bans. That’s efficient. A new piece of gadgetry needs to justify its existence.

If you really want to avoid smartphone distractions, there are things you can do right now: Reorganize your home screens so the most addictive apps aren’t always in your face; turn off the badges that harangue you to check notifications; and don’t send notifications to your smartwatch if you have one. These all work. I’ve done them and I feel much healthier for it. Less is more. And achieving it doesn’t cost a dime.

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David Meyer

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com