[Tech Talk] Smartphones Have Apps, But Do We Need AI?

Reasons Why Making AI Smartphones Is Difficult
The Existing App Ecosystem Is Too Mature
The Key Is to Make People Use 'AI' Instead of Apps

What is the biggest barrier to AI smartphones? AI processors? Memory devices? Battery life? While all are important factors for a smooth AI experience, the real issue with AI is that the application (app) ecosystem introduced to smartphones over the past decade or so is just too convenient. Until AI that can replace apps emerges, the true AI era will not open.

The heyday of AI smartphones... the trend is 'lowering entry barriers'

Apple's 'Apple Intelligence' Artificial Intelligence (AI) System [Image Source=Apple]

Currently, smartphone manufacturers are rushing to release phones equipped with AI features. Samsung took the lead with 'Galaxy Intelligence,' and Apple recently unveiled 'Apple Intelligence.' Microsoft (MS) plans to integrate AI copilot features into its laptops.

Services under the intelligence category are generative AI embedded into existing app systems. For example, optimizing browser search functions with AI remains at an auxiliary level. This also reflects the manufacturers' intentions to some extent.

AI is still unfamiliar to the majority of consumers. And consumers tend to avoid unfamiliar products. Therefore, the strategy is to gradually lower the entry barrier by first embedding auxiliary AI functions into the most widely used apps.

Too mature app ecosystem... the real obstacle to AI transition

A case of Samsung's AI system 'Galaxy Intelligence'
[Image source=Samsung Electronics official website]

However, if AI remains at the level of app auxiliary functions, it cannot be said that smartphones have truly undergone an 'AI revolution.' Ultimately, the proportion of AI usage in total smartphone usage will be minimal, and consequently, the share of AI processors in hardware configurations cannot grow significantly.

This issue is well known in the IT industry. Last month, Oxford University in the UK conducted a survey of 12,000 citizens from six countries including the US, UK, France, and Japan. The percentage of respondents who said they use 'ChatGPT' regularly was only 2%. Compared to the countless companies integrating ChatGPT into their software and investing trillions in AI inference infrastructure, this usage rate is truly minimal.

In the end, the biggest problem for AI popularization is that the existing app ecosystem is too mature. There is simply no reason to replace the process of 'downloading apps from a marketplace and launching apps to access desired functions' with ChatGPT. Apps are much more intuitive, convenient, fast, and even cheaper than asking questions to an AI chatbot. Since Apple introduced the iPhone, the app-based electronic device ecosystem has never changed.

Can AI swallow apps?

So how can AI replace apps? On the 6th (local time), the US IT media outlet The Verge introduced new user interface (UI) demo cases that replace the app ecosystem with AI.

These demos were created by 'Nothing,' founded in London in 2020, and include versions that remove all apps from the phone's home screen and leave only a voice assistant integrated with ChatGPT, and a 'dynamic home screen' version where AI provides personalized app recommendations for each user.

Smartphone design startup 'Nothing' proposed 'Dynamic Home Screen' (above) and 'Multi-modal AI' examples. [Image source=Nothing]

This does not mean that all future smartphone interfaces will switch to this. However, companies designing new phones for the AI era inevitably have one goal: how to get people to use AI instead of apps. Regarding this, Carl Pei, founder and CEO of Nothing, summarized to The Verge, "What we need to do is implement a way to run apps without them being visible on the screen."

Ultimately, AI innovation starts not with more powerful processors, memory, or even the form factor of electronic devices, but with the UI. And because it is UI, opportunities may arise not only for Apple and Samsung but also for other companies. Unlike cutting-edge hardware, design and convenience come from creativity.