AI Pin en France
A traveler’s review of Humane’s wearable AI
To hear the related 5-minute audio file that I uploaded today as my Morning Journal flash briefing for Alexa devices, please click on the play button:
It could have been worse
This morning I drove to the village near our rented villa for a last coffee and croissant at Boulangerie Millet Et Fils. We return to Maine tomorrow after three weeks in France.
In a case of over-confidence combined with poor map preparation, I ended up taking a wrong turn on a very narrow street in La Colle-sur-Loup.
Eager for my petit déjeuner, I vaguely noticed the cars were all parked facing me. And an elderly gentleman was walking up the street in front of me as if he was sure no one would be following him.
When I finally inched past him, the man exclaimed with a start, “Interdit!” By that time I saw a car coming my way, and I knew I was in trouble.
With the approaching car very close to my front bumper, I back down the hill for an entire block. Turning around was out of the question, because the street was too narrow. By the time I reached the intersection, there were two cars lined up in front of me. Very embarrassing.
In today’s Morning Journal audio, you will hear how AI Pin answered my question about the penalty I might have experienced. To wit:
“The fine for driving the wrong way down a one-way street in France is €135. You may also lose 6 points from your driving license, and your license could be suspended for up to 3 years. In some cases, your car can be confiscated.”
Got it.
I also asked AI Pin for a restaurant recommendation for our lunch today. Her first response mentioned places in Nice and Cagnes-sur-Mer. I said that was further than we wanted to drive, so she offered two choices that were closer.
The reason my AI Pin works here in France is that I paid an additional $50 for a month of T-Mobile’s international coverage. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Nice three weeks ago, it worked. No need for WiFi.
Wearable AI is fun to experiment with.
Sometime this month I hope to learn about Amazon’s long-delayed update of Alexa. The Verge and others have reported that the company is planning to give Alexa superpowers via Anthropic’s Claude AI helper, and to charge a monthly fee for it.
I usually travel with a 5-inch Echo Show. It’s good for asking about the weather and playing music.
Maybe on my next trip it might also be as smart as AI Pin, if I need more information about driving laws.