Mobile Technology: AI in Phones

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere—most closely, in your smartphone. Here’s a look at what AI is and how it is shaping your smartphone’s design and function.

What Is AI?

AI is the study and development of machines and computer programs that simulate human intelligence and tackle assigned tasks. As an arm of computer science, its history goes back at least six decades. AI is integral to many of the technological conveniences we enjoy today, such as facial-recognition software and predictive search in search engines. Even Spotify’s music recommendations are a form of AI.

What Is Machine Learning?

Many of the innovations we rely on today function through a branch of AI known as machine learning (ML). ML is a form of artificial intelligence that involves programming machines and software to make data-driven decisions based on previous patterns and data. ML’s use of algorithms has helped push AI to the forefront of technology. It has a hand in some of the biggest sectors of consumer technology, including social media, online shopping, and smartphones.

What Is Generative AI?

Unlike machine learning, which recognizes patterns to classify information and predict data, generative AI creates brand-new content by analyzing statistical probabilities and the underlying structures of data. For example, Spotify uses machine learning to pull in patterns of the music you like and recommend new songs to you based on the data. In contrast, generative AI can use neural networks across vast datasets to create a completely new song for you without human intervention.

How Do Smartphones Use AI?

The areas in which AI has made its mark in mobile technology are vast, but we’ve chosen to focus on a few that people use frequently: voice assistants, photography, and facial recognition.

Voice Assistants

Voice assistants such as Google Assistant, Siri, and Samsung Bixby use data to understand users’ voice commands and perform a variety of tasks.

• Alexa+ lets you control your smart-home devices remotely through your smartphone and web browsers, to create and automate routines, and handle multi-step requests, such as ordering food from Uber Eats and summarizing the news. Alexa’s interface adapts to your voice and vocabulary as you use it.
• Bixby, featured in some Samsung devices, uses Bixby Vision to help you learn more about the objects and landmarks around you. Bixby also has Perplexity AI, which lets you troubleshoot issues on your phone and other Samsung appliances, such as refrigerators.
• Gemini, originally Google Assistant, connects to your Google apps to perform tasks and personalizes its responses based on your past commands and other data, such as your Google search history.
• Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant, and it’s built into everything the company makes. You’ll find Siri in the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and even the HomePod smart speaker. You can use Siri for voice searches, song identification, and device control.

Photography and Videography

AI allows smartphone users to take better selfies, portraits, videos, and low-light photos than ever before. It’s responsible for the ability to add special effects, too. Generative AI on your phone can take it a step further by filling in gaps and reconstructing features that may be missing or distorted in the original photos. Meanwhile, on videos, AI can blur backgrounds and apply studio-quality lighting to enhance subjects.

Facial Recognition

Facial recognition software, such as iPhone’s Face ID, enables users to unlock their phones using their faces. AI and ML algorithms enable the smartphone’s camera to recognize its user and grant access. This convenient feature is an increasingly common approach to security in smartphones of all platforms and in the apps that run on them.

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