What is an AI PC?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integral in the tech industry and is now at the forefront of new PCs. With computer manufacturers rethinking the way to make computers and how people use them, AI PCs are a hot topic. 

The best way to understand what an AI PC is, is to look at it as a boosted PC or an enhanced AI assistant, similar to what you might find with a smartphone. These additional features and services require AI PCs to be built with high-performance storage and RAM that are engineered to handle these specialized workloads. 

Typically, AI operations are centralized in server farms. These farms require a high amount of energy to keep continuously running computers within optimal temperature ranges. Latency is also incurred due to data transfer. 

The goal of an AI PC is to process data locally instead of sending it to a server farm. This localization increases energy efficiency and decreases response time. With the elimination of data transfer to a centralized server farm, AI PCs decrease latency, allowing users to increase their productivity and create without slowdowns.

AI requires specialized hardware to carry out its workload without overwhelming the PC. This is why AI PCs need a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). An NPU is a type of processor specifically designed to handle AI tasks. Combining the NPU with a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and Central Processing Unit (CPU) is what helps provide the PC with enough power to handle the additional tasks performed by AI. It is now widely accepted that for a PC to qualify as an AI PC, it needs to have these three components working in tandem. 

With more and more apps beginning to include AI to further enhance their own advanced features, the need for more powerful hardware is increasingly necessary. 

Unlike generative AIs such as ChatGPT, the AI in AI PCs acts more like a personal assistant, learning from local data to offer personalized and unique suggestions to help with everyday computing tasks. 

Depending on what you use your computer for, this version of AI will help you in different ways. For example, if you’re a photographer and working on photo editing, an AI PC can help you skip the initial steps of light touches, allowing you to get straight to work on more intricate editing tasks. Another example is AI having the ability to create a PowerPoint from scratch, helping you skip arguably the hardest step in the process, getting started.

With AI PCs being relatively new, it is hard to put into context just how much they are and will be capable of. One thing’s for certain though, they will need powerful hardware to handle multiple tasks running simultaneously. In order for an AI PC to run as smoothly as possible, it would be wise to check that it has the best components possible to help with the additional AI workload. 

Having the appropriate RAM for your AI PC is vital, and Crucial Pro DDR5 delivers the essential performance AI applications need. AI PCs will have heavy workloads and non-stop multitasking, but with Crucial Pro DDR5 and its impressive speeds and massive bandwidth, these AI workloads can be handled without slowdowns or latency issues. 

Alongside powerful RAM, AI PCs also need state-of-the-art processors and graphics cards to ensure the PC functions at its full potential. What separates an AI PC from any other new PC is its capability in carrying out everyday tasks with AI enhancements. A new PC not dedicated to AI enhancements will still be able to run apps that are AI powered, but it will do so more slowly. 

If you are interested in making your next PC an AI one, make sure that the PC’s hardware is capable of sustaining its performance, even under heavy workloads.