HP is embracing AI to the point that it plans on triggering a chatbot to pop up when users press CTRL + P to print documents. At the company’s HP Imagine event in Palo Alto today, the PC maker shared more details about HP Print AI, which it plans on rolling out widely to users over the next year.Initially, HP Print will be available as a plug-in for the Chrome browser and Microsoft Office programs. But the company is looking to eventually bake the chatbot directly into the software drivers necessary to run HP printers, eliminating the need to install the plug-in.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
Then, owners of HP printers will see the chatbot every time they activate the print screen, which can be triggered by pressing CTRL + P on the keyboard. The change is poised to overhaul the traditional print interface. HP’s Print AI promises to offer far more functionality by using both a chat box to communicate, and offering suggestions that can automatically optimize a file for an 8-by-11 sheet of paper.
A printed web article without any modifications (right) versus the HP Print AI article. (Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
In a demo, HP employees showed that the AI chatbot excels at printing articles taken from the web. Normally, traditional printers include ads and navigation buttons if you print content from a website. But HP’s Print AI is smart enough to remove all the clutter, including extra white space, and automatically format a web article or even an Excel sheet to paper.
However, a lot remains undecided about HP Print AI, including its potential costs and what printers will support it. The other issue is that integrating the chatbot may raise concerns about bloatware or lag, considering it can take a few moments for the chatbot to optimize certain documents for printing. Still, HP will retain the old school, straightforward print approach too.
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To create Print AI, HP developed its own private large language models, which have been trained to optimize files for print, including removing the ads from web articles. In addition, HP says no user data from the print files will be used to train the AI models. Still, Print AI isn’t flawless. As the company’s demos showed, the chatbot can fail to remove all the white space when printing a web page article, or it can arrange the contents a bit awkwardly.
A printed web article without any modifications (left) versus the HP Print AI article. (Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
To help improve the AI program, HP told PCMag it plans on kicking off a beta campaign of Print AI this fall, recruiting US users to offer input before Print AI’s wider rollout.
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
I’ve been working as a journalist for over 15 years—I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017.
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