- Dell admits AI is not driving consumer laptop purchases
- AI features often confuse buyers instead of helping them
- Windows 11 AI failures are damaging trust and credibility
- Honest marketing may matter more than AI hype in 2026
For the past two years, the PC industry has tried to convince buyers that artificial intelligence is the next must-have feature in laptops. Dedicated NPUs, Copilot branding, and “AI PC” labels have been everywhere.
Yet Dell has now admitted what many users already know. AI is not why people are buying computers.
During a pre-briefing session ahead of CES 2026, Dell executives openly acknowledged that AI has failed to spark consumer excitement.
Instead of driving demand, it has largely created confusion. That level of honesty is rare in an industry that has spent months selling AI as the future of personal computing.
Dell’s comments stand out not because they are radical, but because they are realistic.
Consumers Want Clarity, Not Buzzwords
Jeff Clarke, Dell’s chief operating officer, summed up the situation bluntly. There was an expectation that AI would fuel end user demand, but that promise has not been fulfilled. The average buyer, particularly in the consumer market, does not see a clear reason to care.
Kevin Terwilliger, Dell’s head of product, went further. He explained that Dell has deliberately stepped away from AI first messaging in its latest laptop launches. The company is still shipping systems with NPUs, because modern chips require them, but Dell is no longer pretending that AI is the headline feature customers are shopping for.
According to Terwilliger, AI often makes product explanations harder, not easier. Instead of clarifying what a device can do, it muddies the message. That is a critical admission.
Most buyers still prioritize familiar concerns like battery life, performance, build quality, screen quality, and price. AI features rarely answer a problem they feel they have.
Windows 11 Is Undermining the AI Pitch
Dell’s timing could not be better, or worse, depending on your perspective. Just as the company downplays AI in its marketing, another Windows 11 AI failure has gone viral.
A widely shared video shows an AI powered assistant inside Windows 11 freezing when asked a basic question. The irony is painful. The prompt was one Microsoft itself suggested to demonstrate the tool’s abilities. Instead of helping, the AI stalled completely.
This is not an isolated incident. Past demonstrations have shown Copilot struggling with simple system tasks, including adjusting text size. One such marketing video was quietly removed after drawing criticism.
Each public failure reinforces a growing perception that Windows 11’s AI features are unfinished, unreliable, or simply unnecessary.
When users see AI stumble over basic operating system functions, it becomes harder to trust it with anything more complex.
Trust, Privacy, and Fatigue Are Real Barriers
Beyond technical glitches, AI in Windows 11 faces deeper problems. Trust is fragile. Features like Recall have raised serious privacy concerns, even among tech savvy users.
Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of their activity being continuously analyzed or stored, regardless of how secure it is claimed to be.
There is also plain fatigue. AI has been pushed aggressively, often at the expense of fixing long standing Windows issues. For critics, it feels like Microsoft is prioritizing investor friendly buzzwords over stability, performance, and usability.
Most people who use AI today do so through chatbots for quick answers or writing help. They do not see a strong reason for AI to be embedded deeply into their operating system, especially when it occasionally gets things wrong or behaves unpredictably.
Against this backdrop, Dell’s decision to soften its AI messaging looks less like caution and more like common sense.
A Reality Check the Industry Needed
Dell is not abandoning AI. Its laptops still include the hardware required to support it. But the company is choosing not to pretend that AI is the reason customers should buy a new PC in 2026.
That distinction matters. It signals a shift away from hype and toward honesty. As laptop sales face pressure from rising component costs and longer upgrade cycles, clarity may be more valuable than ambition.
Whether Microsoft’s newer agent based AI features will eventually change minds remains to be seen. For now, Dell’s stance reflects reality. AI might be part of the future of PCs, but it is not yet the selling point the industry hoped it would be.
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