After 2023, under the banner of artificial intelligence everywhere, it is time for smartphones. CES in Las Vegas sci showed how AI could be integrated into every object, especially those with processors. So here on the horizon is the new family of AI-capable cell phones. First among them is Samsung, which is bringing Galaxy AI on board its Galaxy S24, a natural evolution of Bixby in a modern key, as an answer to Microsoft Copilot and Google Bard. Behind this consumer AI boom, however, is a big risk related to marketing. Indeed, the fear is that the media claim will ultimately boil down to just a few features and not a real step change toward greater and more useful integration of AI into our daily lives.
Not all IAs are useful
Let’s take an example: onboard S24s, there is a simultaneous translation function for a phone call, but it is not simultaneous. Between my interlocutor speaking in Korean and the English voice translation, those seconds always pass that would make, in real life, the communication very strange, long, and paradoxical. And again, for how many years have we known that in cell phones, you can select a text and have a textual translation in the instant? Nothing so innovative or sensational. Among the various manufacturers, perhaps Google has declined the promises of AI in a decidedly more functional scenario for everyone. On board, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are photo editing options with which anyone can delete people from the background, correct objects, blur the foreground, and more with just a couple of touches on the screen.
It is no coincidence that the feature many find most useful in ChatGpt is actually that of Dall-E, the engine that is based on the same Gpt as the chatbot but directed at turning text into images. On open projects like Bing Image Creator, you can get eye-catching graphics in seconds with the right prompt. This speeds up the online search for photos for an article and, hypothetically, for work with commercial purposes.
2024 will be the year
What’s more, over the next three years, from 2024 to 2027, more than 1 billion smartphones with generative artificial intelligence on board in the style of ChatGpt will be brought to market. These are the predictions of analytics firm Counterpoint Research, which forecasts as early as 2024 the distribution of more than 100 million units of GenAI devices, while in 2027, the forecasts point to 522 million, with an annual growth rate of 83 per cent.
Analysts define these smartphones as a subset of devices that use generative artificial intelligence to create original content rather than simply providing pre-programmed responses or performing predefined tasks. For example, they will be able to create personalized content and images, do real-time translation, and have smarter digital assistants on board with non-predefined recommendations and conversation styles. According to Counterpoint, Samsung and Qualcomm will initially be the two leading companies in the field.
What integration
We need AI on the smartphone and not limited to a single app. This makes the experience “augmented,” complete and definitive, not segmented and sloppy. Copilot’s own landing on Android and iOS did not bring much of anything new regarding day-to-day innovation. How many of us would use a chatbot to get an answer on a topic that ultimately needs to be checked on a website, starting with Google? Right now, there is no real integration between smartphone use and AI, not as much as it would take to require us to buy a new device. Everything else is mere advertising, marketing, and coordinated actions to make us believe that the future of mobile computing is in our hands, just around the corner. But the truth is another: innovation continues to be about buyers’ money and not about making their lives smarter.
