Samsung's strategic focus on personal AI technology infuses intrigue into the Galaxy S25, yet its eerie vibes are undeniable
Samsung has taken a significant step forward in its AI journey, with the introduction of the Galaxy AI suite at its latest Galaxy Unpacked event. The new features aim to make the phone experience more personal and exciting, addressing the stagnation felt in recent years.
At the heart of this AI-centric phone experience is the progress of Samsung's AI, known as Galaxy AI. This personal assistant is designed to handle tasks that the user doesn't want to do, but this requires a high level of trust. The assistant is intended to be proactive, doing what the user wants without needing to be asked, much like the new AI-produced summary feature, Now Brief.
Now Brief provides insights into the user's day, suggests navigation, recommends places to eat, and recaps days with many pictures. It's more all-encompassing than previous AI summary features, as it takes context into account and offers a more personalised experience. However, it's worth noting that Now Brief requires a significant amount of user data to function effectively.
The Galaxy AI suite also includes AI Select for text and image generative editing, Writing Assist for professional and creative text generation, a transcription summarizer for conversation summaries, real-time voice translation supporting multiple languages, and contextual hubs like Now Brief and Now Bar for summarizing app information on lock and home screens.
Improvements in AI-powered camera functions are also expected with the ProVisual Engine, which promises real-time video and image enhancements and smarter scene recognition. The new AI is expected to bring smarter, more adept voice assistants closer to the action and reduce the number of taps required for various tasks.
However, a potential privacy concern is that some of Samsung's new AI features may reach the cloud if a task is too burdensome to process on-device. This could be a cause for concern for some users, as it means their data could potentially be accessed and stored.
The phone's UI has been a source of frustration due to the unwieldy din of apps and settings, and the new AI might help reset this balance. The new AI-centric phone experience is considered a real, practical advantage that could improve the phone's functionality.
The event also showcased new editing tools, better photo searches, call transcripts, and other AI-related features. With these new advancements, Samsung is positioning itself to stay at the forefront of the smartphone industry, offering users a more intelligent and personalised experience.
