Samsung announced on Wednesday that it has its own answer to ChatGPT with Gauss, its generative AI model. Soon after, the company teased Galaxy AI, which the company said would bring an AI experience to mobile devices.
Samsung hasn’t revealed much about Galaxy AI, including whether it would use the Gaussian model. Galaxy AI is billed in Samsung’s press release as an “AI experience,” using a hybrid of on-device and cloud AI, “powered by our open collaborations with like-minded industry leaders.”
It’s unclear which devices will use Galaxy AI, whether the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S24 is expected in early 2024 or other Galaxy tablets and wearables, only that it’s coming early next year. Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for clarity.
It’s also not clear how Galaxy AI will change the user experience with Galaxy mobile devices, although Samsung did provide an example. A new feature called AI Live Translate Call will allow those with the “latest Galaxy AI phone” to use Galaxy AI to translate audio and text in real time. This feature is limited to on-device AI so conversations and translations don’t leave the phone.
“Galaxy AI is our most comprehensive intelligence offering yet, and it will forever change the way we think about our phones,” said Wonjoon Choi, head of research and development for Mobile eXperience Business, in the press release.
Samsung also didn’t clarify what the on-device component of the Galaxy AI experience would enable. The company on Monday announced its new Exynos 2400 chip for premium phones, which among other improvements also has on-device AI, but Samsung’s phones don’t always use Exynos chips — sometimes they use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon silicon. Last month, Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip with on-device AI, aimed at premium phones.
Most phones have been using AI for years to clean up camera-captured images and night photography, as well as recognize voice requests with voice assistants. Generative AI like ChatGPT offers new answers to questions and promises more intelligent and helpful information on demand. These are primarily cloud-based services, requiring requests to be sent to and returned from server farms running generative AI and language learning models.
Qualcomm is a proponent of generative AI on devices, claiming it has several advantages over the cloud-based approach. By running the AI on a device and not sending data to the cloud, responses can be kept private and personalized based on the user’s behavior and habits (for example, by suggesting restaurants you frequent). The AI can also operate without the need for a mobile signal, and because it runs on the device’s battery, it won’t contribute to data center emissions.
Samsung is the first phone maker to join chipmakers like Qualcomm and MediaTek to announce generative AI on phones in 2024. These new AI tools and assistants could change the way we use our handsets in the future. That all depends on how the mobile industry implements this new technology – and whether it is immediately useful to consumers or, like 5G, will take years to impact our daily phone experience.