It’s getting hard to buy anything without “AI” on the box. Laptops are “AI PCs,” phones have AI assistants built in, and there’s even a dedicated Copilot key on new Windows keyboards. If you’re wondering why AI suddenly got added to everything, and whether it’s worth paying for, here’s a plain-English explanation.
What an “AI PC” actually is
Most new laptops now include an NPU, or neural processing unit. It’s a small, power-efficient processor built into the main chip and designed specifically for AI tasks. Your laptop’s CPU and graphics can run AI work too, but an NPU can do it while using much less battery.
Microsoft created the “Copilot+ PC” label for Windows laptops whose NPU can do at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). Newer chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm all clear that bar. Not every laptop with “AI” in its name meets it, so check the specs if a Copilot+ feature matters to you.
Why companies are adding AI to everything
AI is the new selling point. For years laptops got a little faster every generation, and most people couldn’t tell the difference. AI gives manufacturers a fresh reason to convince people to upgrade.
Running AI in the cloud is expensive. Every question you send to a cloud AI service costs the company money to process on servers in a data center. Moving some of that work onto your own device’s NPU shifts part of the cost from their data centers to your hardware.
Everyone else is doing it. Once a few big companies started advertising AI features, no one wanted to look behind. A lot of products got AI labels to keep up, even when the feature was small.
Investors are watching. Tech companies have spent enormous amounts on AI, and they’re under pressure to show it in their products.
What AI features actually do today
Some on-device AI features are genuinely useful:
- Better video calls: background blur, eye-contact correction and noise cancellation that runs efficiently on the NPU.
- Live captions and translation for audio and video playing on your computer.
- Photo tools: smart editing, upscaling and object removal in apps that support the NPU.
- Search: finding files and settings by describing them instead of remembering exact names.
- Writing help: summarizing documents and drafting text, though much of this still runs in the cloud.
Others are early, rarely used, or available on any laptop through a website. Many of the most popular AI tools, like chatbots, run in the cloud and work fine on a laptop without an NPU.
The concerns
Privacy. Features that watch what’s on your screen or remember your activity raise reasonable privacy questions. Look for features that are opt-in and process data locally, and check the settings when you set up a new laptop.
Cost. AI hardware and the extra memory it needs add to the price. The AI boom is also a major reason RAM prices are so high right now, since data centers are buying so much memory.
Hype over substance. A product with “AI” in its name isn’t automatically better. A laptop with more RAM, a better screen and a bigger battery will often improve your day more than an AI feature you’ll never open.
Should you pay extra for an AI laptop?
For most people in 2026, you don’t need to go out of your way for an AI PC, but you’ll probably end up with one anyway, because most new mid-range and high-end laptops include an NPU. Focus on the specs that matter most for your daily use:
- RAM: 16GB minimum, 32GB for heavy work.
- Storage: a 512GB or 1TB SSD.
- Screen and battery that fit how you use the laptop.
- Processor and graphics matched to your workload, especially for gaming or editing.
If you specifically want Windows Copilot+ features, make sure the laptop is listed as a Copilot+ PC. Otherwise treat the NPU as a nice bonus, not the reason to buy.
The bottom line
AI is being built into everything because it’s the industry’s biggest new selling point, because running AI on your device saves companies money, and because no one wants to fall behind. Some features are useful, many are still finding their purpose, and the hardware behind them helps keep memory expensive. Buy a laptop for its fundamentals, and let the AI features be a bonus. Our laptop recommendations focus on exactly that.
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