A Bengaluru techie has found a creative way to blend nostalgia with modern technology. By transforming his grandfather’s old rotary phone into an artificial intelligence powered assistant, the engineer has caught the attention of social media users online.
Taking to X, the man identified as Pankaj Tanwar shared how he converted the vintage device into a working AI assistant that now sits on his desk.
“I was tired of talking to ugly plastic boxes. So I turned my grandfather's old rotary phone into an AI assistant. I pick it up, say ‘Hey Kiri’ and just talk like book a cab, schedule a meeting, order me maggi, turn off the lights, summarise my emails literally anything and it just does it,” he wrote.
Vintage phone meets artificial intelligence
In the post, Tanwar explained that the device looks exactly like a normal rotary phone from the 1970s. However, inside the device sits a Raspberry Pi and a small AI agent that powers the system.
“It sits on my desk. Looks like a normal phone from the 1970s. Nobody knows there is a raspi & little AI agent living inside it,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“It sits on my desk. Looks like a normal phone from the 1970s. Nobody knows there is a raspi & little AI agent living inside it,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The techie also revealed that the entire project was built on a small budget using basic hardware components.
“Built the whole thing for like $25 with a dummy phone, raspi and a bunch of hardware components,” he wrote.
Sharing images of the modified phone along with the post, Tanwar admitted that the demonstration video might not be perfect but said the project itself was fun to build.
“IDK if anyone would actually want a DIY for this. Its stupid fun having this vintage + AI on the desk man. LMK. (^pls dont mind the bad demo),” he wrote.
Take a look here at the post:
Social media reacts
The post quickly drew reactions from several social media users who praised the creativity behind the project.
One user commented, “Excellent use of AI I have seen so far.” Another person wrote, “It would be so good to find the latest discount coupons for the X quick commerce and then order it all under 100 rupees.”
Many others also admired the idea of merging retro technology with modern AI tools. “You are a legend man,” wrote one user, while another said, “What an amazing development.” A third user commented, “Absolutely love all of your project,” while someone else simply wrote, “Now this is amazing.”
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)