Earlier this year, Samsung released what it now calls its first AI phone, i.e., the Galaxy S24. It's the company's first handset with Galaxy AI, the latter of which is a term used for a suite of ‘Advanced Intelligence' tools and features powered by on-device and cloud-based artificial intelligence.
People have various opinions about Galaxy AI and how important it may or may not be for the Samsung customer's user experience. And I'll admit, I can't say I use Samsung's Galaxy AI tools on my Galaxy S24+ very often. But does that mean these tools are bad or useless? Or are they exactly what they need to be at the right time?
The reason why I seem to be OK with Samsung's Galaxy AI
This isn't a review of Galaxy AI as much as it is a sort of philosophical discussion on why I welcome Samsung's AI on my Galaxy S24+.
As you're likely aware, there's been some push-back against artificial intelligence in recent years, as many people rightfully feel like this technology might be too disruptive to our way of life and economies. But I think Galaxy AI might be the best and healthiest implementation of artificial intelligence yet.
What I like about Galaxy AI is that it is helpful and least disruptive. The Galaxy AI features you'll find on select Samsung phones running One UI 6.1 are nothing without their users, but they are clever enough to assist without becoming intrusive.
But let's start with what arguably could be the most disruptive Galaxy AI feature, and that is the summary tool for online articles. It has the potential to change how readers engage with ad-supported websites, even ours, and could have an adverse effect on content creation sites. However, the jury is out, and only time will tell how all this will pan out.
As far as my experience with Galaxy AI goes, I can compare it to something like Google Maps or Samsung's split-screen mode. I use them only when I need to. I could live without them, but I'm glad they exists, and I'm reminded why from time to time.
Allow me give you a few examples of why I accept Galaxy AI and why, in my eyes, these tools don't look like the stepping stones to bringing Skynet upon us.
- Live Call Translate and Interpreter features allow users of different backgrounds to communicate better. And there's no negative side-effect to this that I can think of. These tools merely make communicating with people who don't speak your language a lot easier. And that is empowering if nothing else.
- Generative Edit for the Gallery app won't replace professional Photoshop work anytime soon or ever. But it is a great tool for the average user who might want to do some light editing on their personal photos.
- Generative Wallpapers won't replace any concept artists and illustrators. It's nothing you can use professionally. But it is a fun little tool that allows Galaxy phone users to uniquely personalize their devices with ease. It's an image generation tool that I don't think it has what it take to harm anyone who has professional digital artistry skills and an illustration career.
- Circle to Search isn't something I see myself using very often, but just like Split Screen mode, I don't mind that it exists, and I can see its practicality now and again. In essence, it's a better implementation of a feature that already exists on virtually every Android phone, i.e., Google Lens. And I see its usefulness mainly when wanting to look up and identify objects online.
As for Chat Assist, you could argue that it is a disruptive tool because it raises yet another layer of fake interactions between people who communicate through messages. After all, it can change sentence structures and tonality, so, is there something left of the real person once the message reaches its destination?
Well, in my view, text-based communications, whether they're emails or messages, are a huge filter as they are. They rarely convey personalities and tone, and they utterly lack the element of body language.
Besides, I doubt most friends would find any reason to use Chat Assist between them. So, in the end, this is just a little AI-based tool that could help people send or post better formal messages on social media. And social media, as far as I'm concerned, already is ‘fake' enough that a tool like Chat Assist makes no difference. In fact, maybe it could slightly ‘beautify' and relax the landscape.
In conclusion, the best thing about Galaxy AI, in my opinion, is that it shows the potential of AI-based tools without being harmful or disruptive to the fabric of society or industries. It just enhances the Galaxy device user experience in certain situations. Like other tools I only use occasionally, I'd rather take Galaxy AI than leave it, and in my book, that's just good enough for a tool such as this.
In fact, given the public's mixed views on AI, and mine, it might be the best and most conscious approach to implementing artificial intelligence on mobile devices. Of course, things could change in the future, but for now, you can rest easy knowing that the current implementation of Galaxy AI is here to assist and entertain in relatively mild ways.
