Why Samsung is right to defend AI on smartphones

We spoke to a senior Samsung executive who said “no one wants AI.” Paradoxically, this is a very good argument for the Galaxy S24 which relies heavily on artificial intelligence.

Samsung started the year 2024 with a bang by launching its Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Three smartphones powered by artificial intelligence with a host of features released under the label “Galaxy AI”.

Should we see these as the first step towards the inevitable future of the smartphone or absolutely inevitable alternatives? Maybe a little of both at the moment. In any case, understand our surprise when, after the Unpacked event held in San Jose in the United States, a senior Samsung official revealed to us that ” Nobody wants AI ».

what How could he announce this on the same day his company announced its grand ambitions for artificial intelligence on smartphones? Some of you may have no doubt that these words make more sense once put into context. Still, the words chosen reveal some interesting things about Samsung’s vision.

Samsung’s vision on AI

Context specific. With the introduction of the Galaxy S24, Friendroid Along with other European media, attend a roundtable with Patrick Chomet, Executive Vice-President and Head of Customer Experience Office On Samsung. He has many roles in the firm, but he can be considered a great organizer.

Its main goal is to pre-design the user experience of Galaxy products and then plan and oversee the evolution of the devices and their interfaces. He is also in charge when it comes to establishing or deepening partnerships with other groups like Google. Also, although our interlocutor was French, the entire conversation was conducted in English. The comments recorded here are translated.

As a good spokesperson, Patrick Chomet assures that the Galaxy S24 and the AI ​​function they have sign “The beginning of a new era” He then takes the time to remind you that Samsung is a company that produces devices. However, in order for said devices to be pleasant to use, many factors must be clearly considered. Among them, we want to make life easier for users. should be made, and therefore “To make things that work“

“No one wants AI”

And this is where we find his famous phrase. “Nobody wants AI” However, Patrick Chomet means that people who buy Samsung products do not fall for a new smartphone just because the brand has stamped it with these two letters “AI» — even though it is of course a marketing argument that will be heavily emphasized.

However, it emphasizes the fact that artificial intelligence makes it possible to unlock new relevant features and that is what will appeal to people. In other words, the simple concept of artificial intelligence is not enough to interest people. We need alternatives that work.

In Galaxy S24, Galaxy AI functions are introduced in different layers of user experience to offer translation, summary summarization and intelligent photo editing. Several use cases by Patrick Chomet and Samsung are considered relevant and where AI has proven to be a satisfying added value to the user experience. Our tests will later show that the rendering of these various options may vary depending on the situation. However, we understand the upstream process a little better.

“No one cares, no one cares”

We then ask a question to take the conversation forward. You should know in fact that, at the end of 2023, Samsung introduced Gauss, its own large language model (LLM). Naturally, many journalists assumed that this LLM served as the basis for most of the Galaxy S24’s AI functions and some information distilled by Samsung France before Unpacked pointed in this direction. However, there seems to be some confusion as, during the conference, the brand heavily highlighted its tie-up with Google to develop these new features.

In other words, a good dose of Galaxy AI options rely on Google Gemini instead of Gauss, possibly for local translation tasks, without an internet connection. In short, we would like more details on this topic, but here again, Patrick Chomet’s response makes us uneasy: “No one cares».

Although spoken without any malice, these words once again surprise us. The spokesperson says that the end user just wants a product and features that work and doesn’t matter what happens behind the scenes. To meet this expectation, he explains, Samsung has chosen a solution that works best every time.

“Obviously we want as many things as possible to work directly on the device“, without the need to go through a remote server”And we will gradually move in this direction” And to add that there are questions of cost, privacy, and performance (speed, latency, etc.) to consider with every proposed functionality.”We prioritize priorities based on their relevance“

Meanwhile, we still don’t know whether Google or Samsung is in charge of these AI functions…

AI to make life easier

Patrick Chomet firmly believes in AI in smartphones. Its leitmotif seeks to eliminate as much as possible the potential friction that might compromise the fluidity of the user experience. He explains that he worked closely with his counterpart at Google, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Android boss, to adopt and promote RCS as a replacement for the obsolete SMS.

Same story for the file sharing tool with Google Nearby Share which merges with (and adopts the name of) Samsung’s Quick Share. The idea is to simplify the user journey. From this same perspective, and on a personal basis, Patrick Chomet admits that his big dream is to ensure that “No need to ever go into smartphone settings“Everything can be done with AI.

It will be interesting to observe in the coming years whether artificial intelligence actually allows Patrick Chomet to achieve this objective. In any case, our discussion with him allows us to understand a little better why Samsung relies so much on artificial intelligence to shake up our smartphones. Everyone is free to believe it or not. At the very least, it’s always reassuring to see a company of this scale have a real long-term vision. This in itself is a no-brainer, but it always feels good when you say it.

---