Personifi AI, an American startup, has just presented a connected collar capable of talking to your dog or cat. At least that’s the company’s promise. So revolutionary product or big scam? Hard to say.
It is now a certainty, AI is the new El Dorado that the Internet was in its day. OpenAI clearly got the ball rolling with ChatGPT, and in the process all the Tech giants joined the AI race: Microsoft, Google, Meta, same battle.
Of course, many startups are also looking to leverage AI to develop tomorrow’s flagship products. As a result, today we find artificial intelligence in everything and anything, like this robot stuffed toy that was supposed to take care of your mental health.
Today’s latest find is from Personifi AI, a small American company based in Austin (Texas). Led by John McHale, the startup has just presented a connected collar capable of talking to your dog or catthanks to AI.
Shazham, the collar that makes your dog talk thanks to AI
This collar, called Shazam (no relation to the DC superhero or the famous music recognition application), is equipped with a speaker and a microphone that allows to hear your voicebut also your pet’s reactions when you talk to him. Thank you machine learningwould the collar could guess the animal’s answer to your questions, before say them out loud. The idea is to give the owners the impression of chatting with their dog… When in reality they are talking to a chatbot.
Personifi AI specifies that all of Shazham’s lines of dialogue are pre-recorded. In total the company offers 27 charactersall spoken by humans (including some well-known personalities in the US). According to McHale, these characters were designed to match the types of personalities people most often attribute to their pets. “We really researched the market, almost everyone has an idea of their pet’s personality,” he specifies.
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There is still much progress to be made
We therefore faithfully reinterpret our animals’ needs and states of mind. Our colleagues from the Wired website were treated to a small demonstration of the device during a Zoom conference. The opportunity to see that there is still serious progress to be made. Roscoe, John McHale’s Labrador, wore the collar during the demo.
After giving this good boy some treats, one of the developers begins the “conversation” with Roscoe. To summarize, the master asks him how he is, the collar responds by explaining that he is like someone who wants to drink a liter of water. So we can expect Roscoe to jump into the nearest bowl of water. But according to the journalist, the dog was far from thirsty, and his real thoughts were mostly focused on the remaining treats.
A safe collar, but not without danger
As for the “Give your dog a voice” part, we’re pretty dubious. On the other hand, the Shazham collar has other features that are much more interesting for all owners of fur animals. For example, microphone and sensors are used to detect possible shocks, damage or attacks (sounds of shocks, grunts, etc.). In addition, the collar can be permanently placed, making it easy to find your lost or runaway animal.
That’s not all, as the collar also recognizes the sound your pet makes when it eats and drinks. Therefore, the device can send a reminder to your smartphone when your companion has not yet been satisfied. These features dedicated to safety and well-being are extremely welcome, but come with serious privacy concerns… For good reason, it’s not really reassuring to know that your dog is walking around with a microphone around its neck permanently activated.
Another problematic point, the price of the necklace. In fact, Shazham will be sold to $595 for dogs (there will be a cheaper version for cats). In addition, almost $300 annual subscription for the BrainBoost service, which enables AI to evolve and refine “its personality”. Almost $900 to disturb your dog with a noisy collar that is far, far from reflecting his real needs. At least for now.
