Updated November 12: article originally posted November 11.
Samsung has confirmed its plans to use AI in its upcoming smartphones, with the Galaxy S24 flagship widely expected to debut the new features. Yet Samsung’s controversial decisions could cause problems in the months to come.
Samsung AI Forum 2023
Samsung Newsroom’s Media Library
The South Korean company has launched its generative AI model as part of the Samsung AI Forum 2023. Called Samsung Gauss, after Carl Friedrich Gauss, It has three core elements currently being used internally: Gauss Language for understanding human language and crafting natural responses, Gauss Code assists software development for code descriptions and creating test cases, and Gauss Image allows the creation of and the modification of images.
Update: Sunday November 12: Following the public introduction of Samsung Gauss, more potential uses of the company’s generative AI abilities in the upcoming Galaxy S24 have been revealed. Noted Samsung reporter @Tech_Reve highlights the use of AI to not only build up a picture of frequently used apps and tasks and to offer proactive results while simplifying complex tasks:
“Expected functionalities include analyzing the user’s destination and travel time to offer advance information on weather, traffic conditions, and app features. Moreover, if the user commands to send an email, it is expected to automatically compose the email in the desired format and proceed with sending it.”
Samsung’s smartphones will collect a lot of personal data to help achieve this. With user privacy becoming a critical factor in purchasing decisions, keeping this data on the handset and processing the information locally will be a priority—something that may only be possible thanks to the increased AI capabilities of the latest Snapdragon and Exynos chipsets.
Samsung also stated that products featuring its generative AI models could be launched “early next year.” One product line fits that timescale and would have the hardware to process some AI on-device while offloading other routines to the cloud; the Samsung Galaxy S24 family.
AI is becoming the key feature of the current generation of smartphones; Google promoting the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro as AI-first smartphones started the avalanche with other smartphone manufacturers and suppliers joining in. Curiously, Apple is nowhere to be seen.
As one of the leading Android partners, Samsung’s promotion of AI will continue to validate this space with designers, engineers, and consumers. Yet there are some questions specific to Samsung and its community that need to be addressed, such as the silicon itself
Samsung has committed to using a mix of its own Exynos 2400 chipsets alongside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipsets in the S24 family; the top-of-the-line Galaxy S24 Ultra will exclusively ship with Qualcomm’s solution, while the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ models will be a mix of Exynos and Qualcomm—with each retail region reviving one or the other.
Both chipsets leaned reality into their respective AI capabilities when they launched. Samsung will be looking to offer a similar experience across both handsets. Yet with hardcoded AI routines in the silicon, many in the community will remember the different performance and power levels offered by the two manufacturers—with the Qualcomm-powered Galaxy handsets widely regarded as being the better option.
While this won’t impact Samsung’s new AI capabilities in the cloud, there will be a focus on the AI in the new Galaxy S24 handset. Samsung will not want any shortfall in capabilities between the Exynos and Snapdragon models. Otherwise, it will face the prospect of two tiers of AI in the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+. Given the visibility of AI in the current market, the controversial decision to use two chipsets may be more prominent in 2024 than in previous years.
Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S24 family early in 2024, with many looking at an earlier-than-expected event in January.
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