AI technology is estimated to disrupt 40% of all jobs by the end of the decade, but its impact on smartphones could be even more widespread.
According to technology market research firm Canalys, more than half of the world’s phones are expected to use artificial intelligence technology within four years.
Electronics giant Samsung pledged this week to integrate AI features into 200 million smart devices by the end of the year.
But technology experts and academics warn that the rapid evolution of technology carries unresolved risks, including questions about consumer privacy, data security and transparency, and that without regulation and education, users may have to rely on tech companies to do the right thing.
The predictions come as Samsung unveiled AI features that will roll out to future smartphones and wearables at its Paris event, including tools to compose emails and text messages, recreate photos, and summarize, transcribe and translate text.
Samsung Electronics Chairman TM Roh believes generative AI technology is so effective that he has made it the focus of the company’s mobile division.
“Internally last year I proclaimed to the entire (mobile) business that we were no longer a smartphone company, we were an AI company, so we were going to focus all of our efforts around AI,” he said. PAA.
“With the advancement of AI technology, the industry as a whole has been influenced.”
But Samsung isn’t alone in wanting to put generative AI tools in our pockets.
Google will hold a launch event on August 13 that promises to showcase “the best of Google AI, Android software, and the Pixel device portfolio,” while Apple unveiled its own AI software and a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI in June.
Apple’s AI features, such as a smarter Siri voice assistant and writing tools, are expected to roll out to devices in September.
All three major smartphone makers claim their AI features will be smarter, more useful and more personalized for users.
For Samsung Galaxy AI, this means analyzing an SMS conversation to suggest personalized responses, while for Apple, it means analyzing and prioritizing a user’s most urgent notifications.
Don McGuire, senior vice president at semiconductor maker and software maker Qualcomm, says proactively using generative AI technology, rather than asking it to respond to prompts, is what will make it invaluable to smartphone users.
“For AI to be truly useful to people… it needs to become more suggestive and anticipatory,” he said.
“That’s really where we’re going.”
But Lucia Russo, a policy analyst in the OECD’s digital economy policy division, says the rapid evolution of technology comes with growing risks, including questions about when and where consumer data is shared, its role in spreading disinformation and the potential for bias.
Regulations to limit these risks are necessary, she said, but tricky because they must be able to evolve with AI technology and cross international borders.
“In the same way that technology leaders come together to ensure they are delivering the best and most optimal user experience for products, it is important that regulation at all levels operates on the basis of mutual understanding,” she said.
“We need to find a balance between the potential for innovation and the risks that this technology carries.”
According to Canalys, consumers’ top concerns about AI include data privacy and security, lack of understanding and transparency about the technology, and the potential for additional costs to access AI tools.
Samsung and Apple have sought to manage these risks by offering consumers the option to handle AI tasks on devices rather than over the internet.
Roh says that 55% of AI usage in Samsung phones, excluding internet searches, currently happens on the devices themselves, which is “higher than expected.”
But Dr Evie Kendal, a bioethicist at Swinburne University, predicts many smartphone users will not seek out AI controls on their phone to ensure their data is not uploaded to the cloud, and many will not be able to distinguish where their data is going.
“People who are interested in AI will be willing to do the extra work and get into the settings,” she said.
“But part of the problem with some new technologies is that they are deployed in a way that normalizes them and makes them almost invisible. So people may not be aware that their information is being used in different ways.”
Dr Kendal says education about generative AI tools, what they do, how they use data and how to control your personal information should be an “immediate priority” for policymakers, as well as consumers eager to try these technology tools.
“You need to know what you are comfortable with, whether you know how your data is stored and shared, who has access to your personal information and make sure you are comfortable with the security of the device you are purchasing,” she said.
“Beyond that, it’s about being as informed as possible when you’re making those purchasing decisions.”
The journalist travelled to France as a guest of Samsung Australia.
This article was first published by PAA.
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