Apple and Samsung have different visions of Artificial Intelligence - AI for smartphones.
At its Developers Conference - WWDC 2024, Apple finally explained how Artificial Intelligence - AI will appear in its products. This approach is completely different from Samsung .
One thing Apple and Samsung have in common is that AI will change the way we use our phones. However, the two tech giants differ on how.
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Apple has announced Apple Intelligence, a new set of AI-powered features that work on iPhones, iPads, and Macs to rewrite messages, generate images, and ask Siri more complex questions. On the surface, they look a lot like Samsung’s Galaxy AI, which was announced in January for the Galaxy S24 series and has since expanded to other devices.
While there are some ways Apple Intelligence and Galaxy AI overlap — namely photo editing and summarizing, proofreading and rewriting text and notes — Apple and Samsung often have different ideas about what AI is. can bring to the smartphone experience. Apple sees AI as connecting the dots between applications while Samsung applies AI to specific tasks, like language translation.
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Apple and Samsung aren't the only tech giants integrating AI more deeply into their products. But as the world's two largest smartphone companies, they have a lot of influence over how the technology will appear on smartphones .
Apple and Samsung have confirmed that AI has many more features, so the current version of Apple Intelligence and Galaxy AI may be just the beginning. But even at this early stage, we can still imagine how our phone software might develop in the coming years.
Apple puts a personal perspective on generative AI
Apple may be behind in the generative AI "game" compared to Samsung and other "competitors", but it is trying to make up for it by emphasizing how Apple Intelligence can help you make sense of all the data, files, photos, and messages on your phone.
When mentioning AI during WWDC, Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, said: "Apple Intelligence needs to be integrated into the experience in use at all times. They will be intuitive, tailored to the user's personal context."
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Much of this functionality is tied to the new version of Siri, which will soon be better at searching for things on the iPhone, such as recipes a friend might have sent you. Apple said that even if users can't remember whether the recipe is saved in a text message or Notes file, Siri can still help users find them.
Plus, Siri can index photos, calendar events, and files, as well as reference information from messages and emails. As a result, Siri can extract the right details from iPhone when needed, no matter where that data is stored.
Apple also wants Siri to go beyond just searching for things in apps. It will also take action on behalf of users. At WWDC, Apple demonstrated how users can ask Siri to show them a photo of a specific person if they're given a detailed description: "Show me a photo of me in New York wearing a pink jacket."
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This feature is one of the most obvious examples of how Apple's approach differs from Samsung's. However, it's not entirely unique.
Previously, Microsoft's Copilot assistant for PC also allowed referencing on-screen content, just like Siri.
Google also discussed its vision for future AI agents that can even perform complex errands. It's another sign that Apple isn't the only company that wants virtual assistants to handle work for users. And given how closely Google and Samsung work together, that feature may soon appear on Samsung devices.
Samsung Aims for Communication and Productivity
One of the standout features of Galaxy AI at launch is the ability to translate calls in real time directly from the Samsung phone app.
In addition to rewriting text in a different tone, Galaxy AI can also translate entire conversations into different languages. The emphasis on translation in particular shows that the approaches of Samsung and Apple are quite clearly different.
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Additionally, Generative Edit lets you remove unwanted objects from photos or resize and move them, which was another highlight when Galaxy AI launched in January. (Apple Intelligence will bring the same feature to the iPhone.)
Interestingly, however, Apple's Siri improvements are quite similar to Samsung's original vision for its Bixby voice assistant.
Over time, software features from both Apple and Samsung will continue to overlap. Samsung plans to give Bixby a comprehensive AI upgrade, and Apple will certainly expand Apple Intelligence to more apps and services. And while the implementation may be different, both companies clearly see AI as a useful tool that can help us get work done faster on our phones.
The question is whether Apple Intelligence and Galaxy AI can deliver on those promises. Time will tell.