What the future of the ‘AI PC’ really looks like, according to Asus’ Arnold Su

Brands have been hyping “AI PCs” for a couple of years now, but hear us out: It’s for good reason. These machines are built differently. They come with special hardware called NPUs that let them run AI features right on the computer instead of relying on the cloud. We’re basically moving toward a not-so-distant future where your laptop can handle every AI task all by itself.

Arnold Su, Vice President at Asus India, shared what this future could look like on the latest episode of the ‘Unboxed Backroom’ podcast.

Goodbye, keyboard and mouse?

AI PCs will fundamentally change how we interact with our computers. Su foresees a major shift from our total reliance on the keyboard and mouse. We’re going to start talking directly to our PCs for complex tasks.

All that specialised AI hardware will enable PCs to not only understand our speech better, but also execute the instructions across apps. And the best part is that it won’t even require internet.

AR headsets that are more like glasses

That local processing power is the key to unlocking some wild future scenarios, especially in AR and VR headsets. Su paints a picture where today’s heavy, clunky helmets become obsolete. He explains they’re only heavy because our current PCs lack the specific computing muscle needed.

“In the future, when gaming AI PCs are ready—and with 6G connectivity—your helmet could become a lightweight glass. All the computing will happen on your AI PC and transmit back to you via 6G,” Su predicts.

Actually intelligent game characters

The games themselves are also set for a massive overhaul. Su targets the lifeless conversations in most role-playing games—the kind where you pick one of three pre-written dialogue options. AI-powered games will destroy that model completely.

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NPCs (non-player characters) will be powered by dynamic language models, which will allow you to have genuine, unscripted, real-time conversations. This, Su argues, is the true start of “immersive gaming”. He even confirmed that many studios are already deep in development on it.

Far more secure computers

Running AI locally also addresses one of the biggest anxieties of the internet. We’ve all become worried about data security and cloud computing. Su notes the “uncertainty” everyone feels about storing their private data on a server they don’t control. A powerful AI PC solves this by keeping your personal data secure and local.

There are levels to AI PCs

Of course, not everyone needs a digital fortress running a local language model just to check emails. Asus is already thinking in tiers, as Su broke down their internal categories. It’s likely that other brands are thinking similarly.

The first level is the “Everyday AI PC,” packing around 10 TOPS, or trillions of operations per second. This base level is perfect for regular users who want to dip their toes into basic AI applications.

The next step up is the “Next-Level AI PC,” which matches Microsoft’s Copilot+ standard. You’ll need at least this much power if you want to run those sophisticated language models locally. The final category is the “Advanced AI PC,” a beast that fuses an NPU with a high-end Nvidia GPU to hit a staggering 320 TOPS.