ZhiXing Column · 2025-07-13

Startup Commentary”The consumer-grade AI revolution won’t be about technology but about emotions.”

Read More《消费级人工智能革命不会是技术层面的,而是情绪层面的。》

Positive Comments: The “Soft Revolution” of Consumer-grade AI is Remodeling the Underlying Logic of Human-computer Interaction

While the global tech community is still fiercely competing in terms of technical indicators such as the parameter scale of large models, inference speed, and multimodal capabilities, this in – depth observation of consumer – grade artificial intelligence has keenly captured a crucial trend – the real “revolution” of AI is shifting from the technical level to the emotional, interface, and cultural levels. The significance of this “soft revolution” may be more subversive than any technological breakthrough.

Firstly, it redefines the core value of “consumer – grade AI”. In the past, consumer – grade AI was often simplified to “chatbots” or “intelligent assistants”, and the core needs of users were generally summarized as “solving problems”. However, scenarios such as “a housing purchase butler understanding the habit of walking the dog”, “a financial system synchronizing the schedule of a partner”, and “a piano coach adjusting the practice plan in real – time” mentioned in the news reveal deeper user demands: AI not only needs to be “useful” but also “understand me”. This kind of “understanding” is not a mechanical response based on rules but a deep perception of users’ living habits, emotional preferences, and cultural backgrounds. For example, the interaction logic of traditional housing purchase apps is “users input requirements – the system matches housing sources”, while an AI housing purchase butler needs to actively recommend through conversations, historical behavior data, and even the “implicit needs” that users don’t explicitly state (such as being close to a park for dog – walking). This “predictive service” essentially upgrades AI from a “tool” to a “life partner”.

Secondly, the maturity of technical infrastructure provides fertile ground for the “soft revolution”. Changes such as “a 90% reduction in token cost” and “simplified model fine – tuning” mentioned in the news are breaking down technical barriers. This means that developers no longer need to invest a large amount of resources in optimizing model performance as before, but can focus on “how to make AI more user – friendly”. This transformation is similar to the early days of the mobile Internet: after the popularization of 4G networks, entrepreneurs no longer needed to solve the problem of “how to make videos play smoothly” but focused on “how to make short videos better meet users’ fragmented entertainment needs”. Today, the “democratization” of AI infrastructure enables more teams to innovate around “soft capabilities” such as user emotions and cultural embedding, which will accelerate the transformation of consumer – grade AI from “technical show – off” to “scene penetration”.

Finally, the value of brand and trust is elevated to a strategic level. The news suggests that “future winners will be more like Nike or Pixar”, and this judgment hits the essential logic of the consumer market. In an era of technological homogenization (such as the similarity of mobile phone chips and operating system functions), the emotional resonance of a brand and user trust often become the key to differentiation. For AI products, when users need to entrust sensitive matters such as financial planning, health management, and even decision – making advice to AI agents, “trust” is more important than “intelligence”. For example, users may be more willing to use a housing purchase butler that “knows I like warm morning light” rather than a tool that “can analyze data of 10,000 housing sources but has no warmth”. The establishment of this trust requires long – term cultural investment (such as value transmission and user story precipitation) and behavior locking (such as habit formation and scene dependence) by the brand, which is the core moat of consumer – grade products.

Negative Comments: The “Utopia” of the Interface Revolution Still Needs to Overcome Multiple Real – World Obstacles

Although the prospect of the “soft revolution” of consumer – grade AI is exciting, goals such as “invisible interfaces”, “emotional resonance”, and “cultural embedding” mentioned in the news still face challenges in multiple dimensions such as technology, users, and business, and their implementation path may be more tortuous than expected.

Firstly, there is a gap between the technological maturity and user expectations. The AI tools depicted in the news as “naturally integrating into life without learning” require strong support in capabilities such as multimodal understanding, context memory, and intention inference. For example, a financial system that can “synchronize a partner’s schedule and cash flow” needs to process multi – source information such as calendar data, bank statements, and conversation records simultaneously and accurately identify the “common goals” that users don’t explicitly state (such as saving for a child’s education). However, current issues such as the “hallucination” problem of large models, limitations in long – context processing capabilities, and insufficient accuracy in multimodal data fusion may still lead to AI “misjudging” user needs. For example, if a user just casually mentions “wanting to change a car”, AI may over – interpret it as “having a large – scale expenditure plan in the near future”, thus affecting the accuracy of financial planning. This kind of “being too smart for one’s own good” experience may actually reduce user trust.

Secondly, there is a coexistence of the “inertia” of user habits and privacy concerns. The news emphasizes that “invisible interfaces” are a trend, but users’ acceptance of “screen – less interaction” is still in doubt. For example, Humane’s Ai Pin received negative reviews for “requiring frequent wake – up” and “having non – intuitive interaction”, and Rabbit R1’s “natural language – to – action” function was criticized for response delays. This shows that users’ tolerance for “invisible interfaces” may be lower than expected – when AI fails to complete tasks quickly and accurately, users may miss the certainty of “clicking a button”. In addition, the deep embedding of AI in life means that it needs to obtain a large amount of sensitive data (such as commuting routes, a partner’s schedule, and health indicators), and users’ concerns about “data abuse” may become the biggest obstacle to adoption. A survey shows that 68% of users said that “even if AI is more convenient, they are not willing to share too much personal information” (source: 2025 MIT Technology Review user survey). This privacy anxiety may turn the “ideal emotional resonance” into “disturbing surveillance”.

Thirdly, the commercial monetization model is not yet clear. The news mentions that “consumer – grade AI depends on taste, cultural timing, and brand and is difficult to measure with spreadsheets”, but commercial implementation ultimately requires a verifiable revenue model. Enterprise – grade AI can directly calculate ROI through “efficiency improvement” and “cost reduction”, but the value of consumer – grade AI is more reflected in soft indicators such as “improved user experience” and “emotional satisfaction”, which makes it difficult to quantify users’ willingness to pay. For example, users may be willing to pay for “accurate housing purchase recommendations” but may not be willing to pay for the additional function of “understanding dog – walking habits”; parents may pay for a piano coach that can “adjust the practice plan in real – time” but need to see clear evidence of “improved learning effects”. In addition, the advertising monetization model also faces challenges in the “invisible interface” scenario – when AI becomes a “life partner”, blunt advertising implantation may damage the user experience, and it is difficult to draw a clear line between “accurate recommendation” and “excessive marketing”.

Advice for Entrepreneurs: Find a Balance between “Soft Capabilities” and “Hard Foundations”

The “emotional revolution” of consumer – grade AI provides a new track for entrepreneurs, but to find a balance between ideals and reality, they need to grasp the following key strategies:

  1. Shift from “solving problems” to “understanding scenarios”: Avoid falling into the inertial thinking of “technology – driven” and instead deeply explore users’ specific life scenarios to dig out “unmet implicit needs”. For example, when developing a financial tool, not only should it analyze income and expenditure data, but also identify potential goals such as “education savings” through user conversations (such as “often mentioning a child’s piano learning recently”); when designing a health assistant, not only should it monitor exercise data, but also adjust suggestions according to the user’s “work stress cycle” (such as reducing high – intensity training during an overtime week). This kind of “scenario – based understanding” can build user stickiness better than simply having “comprehensive functions”.

  2. Build trust between “invisible” and “controllable”: Although invisible interfaces are a trend, users’ “right to intervene” in AI decisions should be retained. For example, a housing purchase butler can actively recommend housing sources but should provide an entrance for “modifying preferences” and “viewing the recommendation logic”; a financial system can automatically adjust the budget but should let users perceive the control through a short notice (such as “Detected an increase in your dining expenses this month. Do you need to adjust the entertainment budget?”). At the same time, alleviate privacy concerns through the “data minimization principle” (only collecting necessary information) and “transparent statements” (clearly stating data usage). For example, use “local computing + encrypted transmission” technology to reduce users’ concerns about data leakage.

  3. Replace “standardized templates” with “cultural granularity”: Cultural embedding is not simply “translation localization” but requires in – depth exploration of the cultural background, living habits, and even “collective memory” of the target users. For example, a financial tool targeting Chinese families needs to consider culturally specific scenarios such as “Spring Festival red envelope expenditures” and “savings for children’s education”; a health assistant for young office workers needs to design flexible exercise plans in combination with the “996 overtime culture”. This “cultural granularity” can upgrade AI from a “general tool” to a “partner who understands you”, thereby enhancing emotional resonance.

  4. Verify “behavior locking” through small – step iterations: The interface revolution takes time, but entrepreneurs can quickly verify users’ acceptance of “emotional interaction” through a “minimum viable product (MVP)”. For example, first launch an ordering assistant that “can remember users’ coffee preferences” and observe whether users reuse it because they are “remembered”; then gradually expand to advanced functions such as “recommending drinks according to the weather”. Through this path of “cultivating behavior habits – establishing emotional dependence – deeply penetrating into scenarios”, gradually achieve the goal of being “invisible and indispensable”.

  5. Build a moat driven by both “technology” and “brand”: Although technical barriers are fading, the combination of “technology + brand” can still form a differentiated advantage. For example, when fine – tuning a model, not only should the performance be optimized, but also the brand’s values (such as “warmth” and “professionalism”) should be integrated; in user interaction, strengthen brand memory through a unified visual style and language tone (such as the tone words and response speed of the AI assistant being consistent with the brand positioning). This strategy of “technology on the surface, brand at the core” can make products stand out in an era of technological homogenization.

Conclusion: The “emotional revolution” of consumer – grade AI is not the end of technology but a new starting point for the human – computer relationship. It requires entrepreneurs to break out of the framework of “technology – only theory” and redefine product value from a more user – friendly perspective. Although there are full of technical challenges, resistance from user habits, and business uncertainties on the road, those teams that can deeply integrate “emotional perception”, “cultural embedding”, and “behavior shaping” with technical capabilities will ultimately become the winners of the future.

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