Dell says the quiet part out loud: Consumers don't actually care about AI PCs — "AI probably confuses them more than it helps them"

In an interview with PC Gamer, Dell has commented on the current state of the PC industry and explained why its latest wave of hardware wasn't marketed directly as AI PCs. It turns out, Dell says it has learned that consumers don't seem to particularly care about AI in PCs and aren't making buying decisions based on it.

"... what we've learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is they're not buying based on AI," Dell's head of product, Kevin Terwilliger said. "In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome."

Dell's latest wave of hardware was notable because it almost purposefully omitted mentions of AI PCs. That doesn't mean its new hardware isn't AI capable, however.

"One thing you'll notice is the message we delivered around our products was not AI-first" says Terwilliger. "We're very focused on delivering upon the AI capabilities of a device—in fact everything that we're announcing has an NPU in it."

Dell is the first Windows OEM to openly admit that the AI PC push has failed. Customers seem uninterested in buying a laptop because of its AI capabilities, likely prioritizing other aspects such as battery life, performance, and display above AI.

This news is unlikely to please Microsoft, which has been trying to encourage an upgrade cycle with Copilot+ PCs for the last couple of years. It placed big bets on next-gen AI experiences as being a primary reason for people to want to upgrade their PC, but if Dell is correct, that effort has seemingly failed.

In fact, Dell's COO Jeff Clarke says that "this un-met promise of AI, and the expectation of AI driving end user demand" along with ongoing memory shortage issues has likely impacted the current state and growth of the PC industry.

Microsoft has slowly pushed AI into every aspect of its portfolio, and Windows 11 has been at the forefront of this unfortunate effort. Windows OEMs have been dragged along for the ride, but now it seems AI on its own isn't enough to encourage users to buy new computers, at least with Windows' current AI capabilities.

Features like Windows Recall and Click To Do, which are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs, haven't resonated with the market. Recall was met with serious backlash, and the other Copilot+ PC features aren't big or useful enough to convince users an AI PC is worth buying.

What are your thoughts on the PC industry's recent AI PC push, and are you expecting these companies to lay off the AI marketing bandwagon in the near future?

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