3059: How Lenovo is Leading the Charge in Hybrid AI

[00:00:04] What does it really mean to integrate AI into our everyday devices, especially as technology rapidly evolves?

[00:00:12] Well today I'm still in Seattle at Lenovo Tech World and I'm joined by Jane Wang, Vice President and Secretary General of Lenovo's Technology Committee.

[00:00:23] So today's episode is recorded live at Lenovo Tech World, where Jane is going to share her unique insights on the groundbreaking innovations being unveiled at the event.

[00:00:33] Particularly the AI powered human machine interaction.

[00:00:38] This is a topic that always fascinates me and I'm looking forward to digging a little bit deeper on today.

[00:00:43] And with more than a decade of experience organizing this pivotal event, Jane is going to reflect on how Lenovo continues to lead the way in making technology more accessible, more user centric.

[00:00:56] And discuss the transformative role of AI PCs.

[00:01:01] Something which promises to enhance user experience and streamline daily tasks.

[00:01:07] And Jane will also highlight the intersection of AI and 3D experiences.

[00:01:12] Revealing how Lenovo is poised to revolutionize the way we interact with technology.

[00:01:18] But enough scenes setting from me. Join me live on the show floor here at Lenovo Tech World as myself and Jane will explore the exciting future of augmented intelligence.

[00:01:29] And its implications for both individual users and enterprises.

[00:01:35] So a massive warm welcome to the show.

[00:01:38] Can you tell everyone listening a little about what you do in Lenovo and also what the Lenovo World event means to you?

[00:01:45] Lenovo Tech World means a lot to me.

[00:01:48] This is the 10th year of I'm like organizing the Lenovo Tech World.

[00:01:54] So I'm the corporate vice president for Lenovo.

[00:01:58] My name is Jane, Jane Tsien-Yin Wang.

[00:02:01] I'm working for Lenovo Research.

[00:02:03] So I have two hats.

[00:02:04] On one hand, I'm the secretary in general for Lenovo Technology Committee.

[00:02:08] So all cross-organization, R&D related efforts like Tech World, like R&D planning, I will support CTO to do the cross-organization R&D work.

[00:02:21] So Tech World is definitely one of them.

[00:02:24] So I've been doing Tech World for many, many years now, since 2015.

[00:02:30] So this is my 10th Tech World so far.

[00:02:33] Wow.

[00:02:34] Yeah.

[00:02:34] So you must have seen a lot of changes in 10 years and so many different changes.

[00:02:39] And obviously now everyone's talking about AI.

[00:02:41] It must be quite a journey you've been on.

[00:02:43] Yeah, but it's all about innovation, right?

[00:02:45] Yeah.

[00:02:46] So Lenovo has this word, innovation never stands still.

[00:02:52] Like to me, it feels totally like that.

[00:02:55] Because each year we want to continue to bring to the world our, the most exciting innovation.

[00:03:02] And also we talk about our technology strategy, you know, how we think these industry trends is going to affect us, affect our users, both individual users and enterprise users.

[00:03:13] So this is actually very rewarding because it's a lot of work.

[00:03:20] It's a lot of work and also you need to always, you know, align with the most important trend.

[00:03:27] Because technically it's like a fast changing world.

[00:03:30] So there's a lot to talk about and a lot to cover.

[00:03:34] So what's the most important thing you want to bring to the world to demonstrate our innovation, demonstrate our, you know, commitment to technology and also demonstrate our care about user experience.

[00:03:48] And I think one of the big talking points this year is the AI PC.

[00:03:52] So what is it that excites you about the role of AI PC?

[00:03:56] We've talked about AI in the cloud, et cetera, but AI actually in our home PCs or enterprise PCs.

[00:04:01] What excites you there?

[00:04:03] So I think, you know, you know, we are the largest PC maker in the, in the world.

[00:04:09] So we know AI is going to change every aspect of our experience of our life for a lot of users.

[00:04:18] That's one of the main entry points to the digital world.

[00:04:22] So, and then PC is going to be a very important vehicle and also entry point for a lot of users to help you to make your life better.

[00:04:31] So for AI, I think it's not artificial intelligence.

[00:04:35] I don't like the word artificial, but I think this is more like augmented intelligence, like our CTO mentioned this morning.

[00:04:42] But it's also, it's about, you know, the, it's augmented humans potential and help you to, to do things better.

[00:04:50] If you use PC to, to, for work, can this PC help you to do your work better and in a more efficient way, more satisfying way?

[00:05:01] I think that's, that's something AI PC is going to help our end user.

[00:05:06] And on the other hand, you know, still there are a lot of users are confused about the, those gadgets like PC, like phones.

[00:05:15] So can, can AI PC actually help you to manage your PC better?

[00:05:20] If you have a question, if there's a, any, anything cannot work, can our AI PC actually assist our user?

[00:05:28] And then they will, you know, auto recover, you know, you don't really need to, you know, to find help, find assistance, you know, from other people, you know, hey, you know, a Joe, can you help me to fix this problem?

[00:05:41] I cannot, this, this application, the long word, it was working before, but certainly it doesn't work. Right.

[00:05:46] So I think for, for both, the most important thing is still the entry point, because this is your, your companion, your, your working pal that can help you to, then, then can, can this be, do better?

[00:06:00] And also, I think the hybrid AI is the foundation actually to support all the, all the, all the agentic AI and all the assistants.

[00:06:11] In future, it will be the client AI is going, on-device AI is going to help protect your privacy.

[00:06:18] And then you don't want to send everything to cloud.

[00:06:21] And then if the, if the performance for on-device AI is sufficient and good enough and to help you to protect your, your, your files, your privacy, I think then you will be happy to combine using this hybrid AI approach, both on-device and also cloud AI to help you.

[00:06:39] And I'm glad you used the word hybrid there because a big theme of Leno wrote, Edward, is around hybrid and a smarter AI for all.

[00:06:48] So rather focusing on the tech, I'm curious, how do you see that relationship between the AI PC and the human mind and the human aspect evolving as, as they interact together?

[00:06:59] What excites you there?

[00:07:00] You know, the, I think the engine technology that with the large foundation model involved, we'll see that the model is getting, you know, more and more powerful.

[00:07:12] However, what will be the best use case actually to help user is like to achieve augmented intelligence.

[00:07:18] So augmented intelligence is actually as, as Toga mentioned this morning, is actually three-fold.

[00:07:24] One is the cognitive piece, right?

[00:07:27] I think I read a report from Harvard Business Review that we are information overloaded.

[00:07:35] So the information you receive from all different channels on the digital information, every day, the information you receive is about like 373 newspaper every day.

[00:07:47] So for, for each individual user, so that's beyond our capability to manage, right?

[00:07:53] So if you, if you are away from a group chat, when you return, maybe there are already 200 messages, you know, already.

[00:08:01] And then if you want to catch, catch up with all the message, that's a very tiring and exhausting experience.

[00:08:07] But can AI do better for this cognitive overloading?

[00:08:11] So I think that's more internal.

[00:08:13] You know, you try to digest, summarize and process all the information and turn the information into to-do list.

[00:08:20] So that's one thing is like cognitive.

[00:08:22] Can, can AI help you cognitively and with the information overloading?

[00:08:28] And second is, you know, can AI actually know you better, understand your current situation?

[00:08:34] You know, where are you, who you are?

[00:08:36] And then these are sensory information.

[00:08:40] A lot of context about you.

[00:08:41] Can AI can, can help you to interpret better?

[00:08:45] Better, you are, you are busy, you are at a deadline of, of a certain task.

[00:08:49] Then can AI help you to filter out other information and know you better and assist you better?

[00:08:56] Which task you need to focus on?

[00:08:58] What's the status of your house and, you know, the, the, the social status where, where you are?

[00:09:05] So that's the second piece.

[00:09:06] It's like a sensory information.

[00:09:08] And third information is, is, you know, you know, your agent need to talk with other agent.

[00:09:15] So, and maybe there's a, you are working on a task, but you probably, there's another, some person is also working on this similar task.

[00:09:24] Maybe from a different angle, right?

[00:09:26] Maybe you are, you know, a biologist or maybe you are a physician.

[00:09:31] And maybe there's a, you know, the, the, the, the physicist actually is working on similar problem.

[00:09:37] Or they can help you to do things better.

[00:09:40] So, but previously you need to do the search by yourself.

[00:09:45] But can these agent, you know, agent can talk with other people's agent and can find you, find a solution together and for you without, you know, and also maybe have options for solutions.

[00:09:57] For human actually to, to select.

[00:10:00] And they already do a lot of pre-processing and pre-discussion, pre-communication for you.

[00:10:06] And then come back with alternatives, come back with options.

[00:10:09] And then you can look at options and then you can make decision.

[00:10:13] Or even in future, the agent can help you to, you know, to do some pre-decision making input and help you to do things better.

[00:10:22] So it's like different three layers.

[00:10:23] One is the, the cognitive is purely internal.

[00:10:27] And then the sensory is about your interaction with the context.

[00:10:30] And then you, then you have to expand it.

[00:10:33] It's like a people-to-people communication.

[00:10:36] And then with that, we call it a connection.

[00:10:39] Then you have, you know, your agent work with other agents to help you to facilitate these tasks better.

[00:10:45] And I think that group chat example will resonate with so many people.

[00:10:50] We've all picked up our phone after an hour and thought, wow, what's been going on in that hour?

[00:10:54] And I think two standout quotes from the keynotes today were one was the future of AI is about enabling humans to do what humans do best

[00:11:04] by providing information via cognitive intelligence, sensory intelligence, and conventional intelligence, like you said.

[00:11:11] And Jensen from NVIDIA, he also said, we thought we would like to achieve superhuman productivity.

[00:11:17] But how important is that human-driven approach to AI at Lenovo?

[00:11:22] Oh, that's completely user-centric.

[00:11:25] So my background is I got a PhD from Stanford University in human computing action.

[00:11:31] So our view is it's need to serve the user value, both individual user and enterprise user.

[00:11:38] Think about that.

[00:11:39] Actually, the individual user and enterprise user all have the same requirement.

[00:11:46] They want to be, you know, they want the AI can know you, understand you, and also assist you or slash work for you.

[00:11:54] So it's more like know you, know your history, know your knowledge base, understand you, understand your task, understand your priority, understand your connection, social connections, and then work for you, do things for you.

[00:12:08] And I think that's we, no matter it's for individual user or for enterprise user, we learn to take this user-centric approach to build our AI.

[00:12:17] Otherwise, it's meaningless, right?

[00:12:19] It's a, you will not have user adoption.

[00:12:22] You will not, you know, you will not have the right offering, right application, right technology to assist users.

[00:12:30] 100% with you there.

[00:12:31] And I'm conscious we are talking a lot about AI, but on the show floor, I came across the 3D experience.

[00:12:37] And there was two great examples.

[00:12:39] One was 3D gaming, which we absolutely love.

[00:12:41] And then also there was an example put design when building houses, et cetera, and you could pinch using a ring.

[00:12:47] Phenomenal.

[00:12:48] For anybody that's not seen that, could you just expand on that?

[00:12:51] Because it seems like another exciting thing, maybe overshadowed by the AI, but equally as exciting, right?

[00:12:56] Yeah, thanks for asking that, because that's exactly my team is working on that.

[00:13:01] You know, I'm a HCI, I'm trained as a HCI researcher.

[00:13:04] So it's always a dream to see, you know, that if you think about evolution, about the human campaign action, it's always, you know, more and more closer to the real world.

[00:13:19] So we start with, you know, text, and then we add audio, you know, voice.

[00:13:25] Then we add, you know, image, pictures.

[00:13:28] Then we add video.

[00:13:29] So it's like getting more and more richer in the media, in the content.

[00:13:34] And then people were saying that the, what's the word, Holly Grail is the 3D experience.

[00:13:42] But people try so hard to make it happen.

[00:13:46] It's not there yet.

[00:13:47] It's always not there yet.

[00:13:48] And then if you remember maybe 10 years ago at a lot of, you know, those tech shows, we see those 3D, 3D content, 3D display.

[00:13:57] Or why this didn't take off.

[00:14:01] So that's the first question we need to ask ourselves.

[00:14:04] I think it will be difficult if you want to jump into a complete 3D world without the readiness of content, without the readiness of the interaction.

[00:14:15] That will work.

[00:14:16] And also, it won't happen like overnight, your previous 2D content suddenly all in 3D.

[00:14:23] And all the ecosystem all support 3D.

[00:14:26] So this is need to take a way that it's more like a 2D, 3D continually or mainly 2D, 3D compatible experience.

[00:14:35] So you see it's the, you know, exhibition for our family devices.

[00:14:41] It's like the SyncVision 27-inch display or the 2B announced, you know, other our all-in-one device and all-in-one desktop and our notebook, the gaming notebook.

[00:14:52] I think these are our family experience.

[00:14:56] And they are the devices.

[00:14:58] It's going to support a transition to the 3D compatible.

[00:15:02] So I think that would be the first thing is like whether we can have the content, can the ecosystem ready.

[00:15:09] I think AI is actually triggering that.

[00:15:12] It's like the, you know, the word shipping port, right?

[00:15:16] So, you know, with AI, the client device has more and more computing power.

[00:15:21] However, with AI, the model is going to understand user better and track user better.

[00:15:27] And also with AI, you will see the 2D, 3D content conversion and the 3D content generation become easier and easier.

[00:15:35] So all these together, I think it's going to like the, you know, the multiple streams actually all merge together to this tipping point and actually going to bring this 3D experience closer and closer to end user.

[00:15:49] Exciting times ahead.

[00:15:50] And I know there's going to be a lot of excitement around those devices too.

[00:15:54] But I'm curious.

[00:15:56] If we look at all the announcements today, there's been so many, hasn't there?

[00:16:00] It's almost like a super group of big tech with so many huge guests.

[00:16:04] But what would be your big takeaway or most exciting part of today?

[00:16:08] I think this is all, you know, through that foundation of hybrid AI, we are making this AI real and more accessible and more affordable, more augmented intelligence to end user.

[00:16:25] I think that's what makes me excited.

[00:16:28] And I think moving forward, you are going to see more and more innovation along that line.

[00:16:33] Because AI is not artificial intelligence.

[00:16:36] It's augmented intelligence.

[00:16:38] It's affordable intelligence.

[00:16:41] It's auto intelligence, you know, do task for you.

[00:16:44] So it's a lot to come.

[00:16:46] And I think we are in the right direction utilizing hybrid AI.

[00:16:49] Right.

[00:16:49] Our client, you know, on-device AI, our edge AI and our cloud AI all bring them together as the foundation to make this happen.

[00:16:59] Wow.

[00:16:59] So many big talking points.

[00:17:01] I know how busy you are.

[00:17:03] Thank you for taking time to come off the show floor and share your insights.

[00:17:06] Really appreciate your time today.

[00:17:07] Yeah.

[00:17:08] Thank you.

[00:17:08] I think it's evident that Lenovo is at the forefront of innovation, particularly in enhancing how we interact with technology through AI.

[00:17:18] And Jane's perspectives on the potential of AI PCs to augment human capabilities and streamline our interactions.

[00:17:26] It underscores a critical shift in how technology can empower users.

[00:17:31] And the excitement today around Lenovo's announcements at Lenovo Tech World, I think, reflects a commitment to creating solutions that are not only advanced, but ultimately user-friendly.

[00:17:42] And with the future of AI leaning towards augmented intelligence, quick question for you listening wherever you are in the world right now.

[00:17:50] What steps will you or your organisation take to leverage these innovations that we're talking about here?

[00:17:57] This is where I encourage you to reflect on all the advancements we're talking about and how they might be able to enhance your own work, your own personal experiences.

[00:18:08] And as always, email me, techblogwriteroutlook.com, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, just at me or see you.

[00:18:15] Send me a DM.

[00:18:16] I'd look for you to carry on this conversation that we started today.

[00:18:20] But that's it for today.

[00:18:21] Thank you for joining me as always.

[00:18:23] I look forward to exploring more tech trends that shape our world with you tomorrow.

[00:18:29] So please, same time, same place.

[00:18:31] I'll be waiting here.

[00:18:32] And hopefully we can learn a thing or two together and from each other.

[00:18:36] But that's it for today.

[00:18:37] So thank you for listening as always.

[00:18:39] And hopefully I will speak with you all again tomorrow morning.

[00:18:42] Bye for now.

[00:18:49] Bye for now.