New Mac app wants to record everything you do—so you can “rewind” it later - Ars Technica

2 years ago 35

An M1 elephant ne'er forgets —

Find "anything you've seen, said, oregon heard" utilizing 3,750x compression.

Benj Edwards - Nov 2, 2022 9:33 p.m. UTC

Rewind reportedly lets you hunt your past for what you've seen, said, oregon heard.

Yesterday, a institution called Rewind AI announced a self-titled bundle product for Macs with Apple Silicon that reportedly keeps a highly compressed, searchable grounds of everything you bash locally connected your Mac and lets you "rewind" clip to spot it later. If you hide thing you've "seen, said, oregon heard," Rewind wants to assistance you find it easily.

Rewind AI claims its merchandise stores each signaling information locally connected your instrumentality and does not necessitate unreality integration. Among its promises, Rewind volition reportedly fto you rewind Zoom meetings and propulsion accusation from them successful a searchable form.

In a video demo connected Rewind.AI's site, the app opens erstwhile a idiosyncratic presses Command+Shift+Space. The hunt barroom suggests typing "anything you've seen, said, oregon heard." It besides shows a timeline astatine the bottommost of the surface that represents erstwhile actions successful apps.

A promotional video from Rewind AI.

After searching for "tps reports," the video depicts a grid presumption of each clip Rewind has encountered the operation "tps reports" arsenic audio oregon substance successful immoderate app, including Zoom chats, substance messages, emails, Slack conversations, and Word documents. It describes filtering the results by app—and the quality to transcript and paste from these past instances if necessary.

Founded by Dan Siroker and Brett Bejcek, Rewind AI is composed of a tiny distant squad located successful assorted cities astir the US. Portions of the institution antecedently created Scribe, a precursor to Rewind that received immoderate property attention successful 2021. In an introductory blog post, Rewind AI co-founder Dan Siroker writes, "What if we could usage exertion to augment our representation the aforesaid mode a proceeding assistance tin augment our hearing?"

How does it work?

Rewind AI provides fewer details astir the app's back-end exertion but describes "mind-boggling compression" that tin reportedly compress signaling information up to 3,750 times "without a large nonaccomplishment of quality," giving an illustration of 10.5GB of information squeezed down to conscionable 2.8MB. Rewind says that adjacent connected a tiny hard drive, "you tin store years of recordings"—a heady claim, to beryllium sure.

The Rewind tract besides describes utilizing OCR to seizure substance contented and automated code designation to automatically transcribe thing you've said oregon heard, including successful meetings, truthful that "you ne'er person to interest astir losing this contented again."

(If Rewind converts everything it sees and hears into plain text, that mightiness explicate the monolithic compression ratio. The demo did not amusement immoderate unrecorded video oregon audio signaling playback, for example, conscionable static screenshots with highlighted text. We person asked Rewind AI to clarify this constituent and volition update the nonfiction if we person a response.)

Rewind AI besides says that Apple Silicon Macs with M1 and M2 chips are cardinal to making the merchandise enactment successful a "virtually imperceptible" way, utilizing "virtually each portion of the System connected a Chip."

Potential privateness issues

While laying retired the imaginativeness for Rewind AI successful the blog station mentioned above, Siroker writes, "Our imaginativeness is to springiness humans cleanable memory." But commenters connected Twitter and YouTube person already begun pointing retired scenarios wherever "perfect memory" could backfire.

For example, Rewind mightiness exposure its users to imaginable maltreatment from overbearing partners, bosses, law enforcement, oregon repressive governments; legal issues from signaling delicate information; and consent issues astir signaling different radical successful meetings.

Rewind addresses immoderate of these concerns connected its site, saying, "We store each of the recordings locally connected your Mac. Only you person entree to them." Their demo tract also says that you'll beryllium capable to intermission oregon delete recordings astatine immoderate time, and you tin automatically exclude definite apps from your recorded history, including backstage browsing modes successful browsers.

A screenshot of accusation astir privateness from Rewind's website.

As acold arsenic obtaining support to grounds a gathering with different participants, Rewind provides its ain assistance leafage titled "Everything you request to cognize astir consent" that includes proposal specified arsenic "Before you grounds someone, you should ever inquire for their consent." The leafage recommends telling radical the gathering volition beryllium recorded—perhaps up of time—and that users travel each section laws related to signaling conversations.

Privacy and ethical concerns aside, Andreessen Horowitz is taking the exertion earnestly capable to pb a $10 cardinal circular of backing astatine a valuation of $75 million. The task superior steadfast wrote astir its reasons for investing successful Rewind, posing the merchandise arsenic a cure for accusation overload.

Currently, the Rewind merchandise is not publically available, but anyone funny tin petition "Early Access" connected the Rewind website. We reached retired to Rewind and asked for a accidental to effort the software.

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