Samsung reveals which Galaxy AI features are the most popular

At a recent roundtable in Paris, we had the opportunity to speak with Jisun Park, VP of AI at Samsung and an AI expert, to discuss Galaxy AI’s achievements to date, its features, and the company’s plans to take it to the next level.

Samsung believes Galaxy AI will be the next big thing for smartphones, potentially changing the way we interact with them on a fundamental level. While that scenario is still a ways off, things are moving quickly.

Launched with the Samsung Galaxy S24 earlier this year, Galaxy AI enables on-device language translation, generative AI text and image editing, and more. The platform has since expanded to many previous Samsung phones, stretching all the way back to the Galaxy S22 series.

Galaxy AI so far

Following the launch of Galaxy AI in January, Samsung expects it to be available on 200 million devices by the end of 2024. Park says that with language translation support being one of the headline features, the number of supported languages will increase from 16 to 20 by the end of the year.

Park also sees Galaxy AI expanding to other devices, not just phones. For example, given the small interface on Galaxy watches, the AI makes it much easier to interact with them, from natural voice commands to suggesting replies to messages to interpreting health and activity data in a more meaningful way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLJEwoWZJ4A

The new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro use AI and machine learning to assess your surroundings and adjust the level of noise cancellation while still letting in important sounds like a siren or starting a conversation.

The upcoming Galaxy Ring also opens up the possibility of using artificial intelligence by combining sleep and activity data to create a valuable picture of health.

Galaxy AI’s Most Popular Features

Samsung’s Galaxy AI is actually a combination of various tools across apps and the smartphone’s operating system (and I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching and using them). Since its launch, Jisun Park says the most-used features are Photo Assist, Live Translate, and Google’s Circle to Search.

This is in line with what Samsung Australia’s head of mobile told us last month. 80% of Australian Galaxy S24 users use the Galaxy AI feature each month, indicating a high level of adoption.

Samsung Circle for Search — Google Circle to Search in action. Image: provided.

For those who don’t know, the Circle to Search app uses AI to find information about what you draw on your phone’s screen using a circle.

Photo Assist uses generative AI to remove objects from photos or enhance the background, and also suggests adjusting the sharpness levels of the photo.

Live Translate is what it sounds like, and it helps you communicate with someone in “near” real time. It can even translate for the person on the other end of a phone call.

Park added that his favorite Galaxy AI feature is the Sketch to Image tool, which helped “transform my poor drawing into a better one.”

Hybrid Artificial Intelligence

Samsung plans to continue with its “hybrid AI” model, meaning some of the “thinking” is done on the device itself, while other tasks are sent to the cloud where they are handled by large server farms.

Jisun Park, Executive Vice President of Samsung — Jisun Park, Vice President of AI at Samsung. Photo: Provided.

In addition, Galaxy AI will continue to work with Google Gemini AI for the foreseeable future. Park also sees the possibility of adding specialized AI from a partner as a way to differentiate Galaxy AI from others, but this model is similar to Apple AI, which will also rely on a third party for some tasks, only this time the partner is Open AI’s ChatGPT.

The downside to sending AI tasks to the cloud or sharing them with other AI providers is that you don’t have as much control over your personal data as you would if it were stored solely on your device. But even the latest phones can’t yet offer that.

Responsible Artificial Intelligence

As AI grows, concerns about certain risks, including privacy, bias, and information accuracy, grow. Jisun Park says Galaxy AI is a “responsible AI,” and Samsung is working closely with Google to ensure that adequate security measures are in place. This includes:

Setting limits to ensure proper image generation
Using on-device AI to ensure data never leaves the device
Adding a watermark to creative work to indicate that AI was used
Not using user data to train Galaxy AI

Will we have to pay for Galaxy AI features?

A popular question regarding AI on our phones is whether it will remain free. Jisun Park reiterated that Galaxy AI will remain free until the end of 2025. At that point, Samsung will evaluate how things are going. However, Park clarified that there is no plan to charge for AI features after 2025, but will “…make a decision once more data points are available.”

Given the costs of supporting AI, including developing new features and licensing Google to use Gemini AI, it’s hard not to think that some revenue path will be needed. This could take the form of a basic set of AI features available for free on phones, and then a subscription tier for more advanced features. Google has already gone down this path, making advanced Gemini features available for $32.99 per month.

What about phones?

When asked why Galaxy AI won’t work on older or cheaper devices like Samsung’s A series, Park replied that the technology will work on the older Galaxy S22 model, but the A series is too limited in terms of memory and audio parameters, so a dedicated AI chip is not needed.

Will we need to replace phones more often?

When asked if AI will shorten the lifespan of our phones, Park admitted that “AI is developing too quickly and is hard to predict.”

Park explained that the Galaxy AI features will be part of the seven years of free software updates that come with Samsung phones, so the AI features should be available for the life of the device. However, that assumes your phone has the hardware to support the features in the update, so some may not work as your phone ages.

We know that the more powerful a phone is, the more AI features it will support, which will likely impact the frequency of updates in the coming years.

Why foldable products?

It was interesting to see that the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are getting some exclusive Galaxy AI features. Park said he likes foldable phones because the larger screens give him the opportunity to use new features. For example, the Interpreter feature on the Fold 6 relies on a large external screen to display translated text, something that non-foldable phones can’t do.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2024 series — Photo: Supplied.

Does AI shorten battery life?

You might think that the extra processing power required for AI to “think” could drain a phone’s battery. However, Park mentioned that “AI doesn’t use a significant amount of battery,” but Samsung is still committed to minimizing usage and “managing it properly.”

AI Competition

What about the AI competition? Apple has revealed its Apple Intelligence AI, which will be available in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, due out in September. Other Android phone makers will also have their versions to compete with, including Motorola’s Moto AI and, of course, Google’s own AI for Pixel phones, which shares many features with the Galaxy AI today. We’ll learn more about the latest iteration of Google AI with the launch of the Pixel 9 and its exclusive features in the coming weeks.

Park says Galaxy AI has a solid advantage, as there are currently over a billion Samsung mobile devices on the market, some of which will be able to run the Galaxy AI version, and it could be expanded upon if the device is able to support it. He also explained that future Galaxy AI experiences will remain competitive, although he did not provide insight into what form that might take.

One thing is certain: artificial intelligence features will become a key argument for choosing the phone you decide to carry in your pocket.

What is the biggest problem we will face in the next stage of development of artificial intelligence technologies?

According to Park, it’s about “making decisions about including new AI features and ensuring responsible AI in terms of security, privacy, and accountability.”