Generative AI creates new race for smartphone manufacturing industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) on phones is not new as users have long accessed this technology through features such as dictation, language translation, photo editing, and facial recognition for many years. However, smartphones integrated with Generative AI - AI Phone is a completely different story as they are considered to be the next step in the mobile era.

Because it is still new, there is currently no common concept of AI Phone, each manufacturer has its own definition and approach. However, according to Cnet, AI phones will have some common standards such as using dedicated AI chips, processing smart and personalized tasks without needing an Internet connection, and learning deeply about each user's habits.

AI Phone is the future

In an interview with the Economic Times, Prashant Mani - Managing Director of Motorola Asia Pacific region, said that AI technology will transform everything, whether you use it in multiple applications or in a single application. For example, your photos will be more beautiful, unwanted noise will be removed from audio files... AI focuses on each person's personal experiences, from entertainment applications to performance, health and security.

Meanwhile, Canalys analyst Sheng Win Chow believes that AI Phone will bring mobile brands to the "peak smartphone era", reshaping not only smartphones but the entire consumer electronics product range.

The AI ​​Phone era will only happen when chipmakers are ready to deliver processors that can run generative AI models right on mobile devices. Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Intel have all announced flagship chips that can meet this need.

At the annual Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii in October 2023, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chip, which allows smartphones to use AI generation anytime, anywhere, even offline. According to the company's announcement, the chipset can run 10 billion parameters on the device, eliminating the need to connect to the cloud so that end users can experience a true AI Phone.

Previously, at the MWC event in February 2023 in Barcelona, ​​Qualcomm demonstrated the ability to command AI to create a 15-second video in less than a second. With the new generation chipset, the American semiconductor manufacturer introduced the concept of "on-device personalization". According to Qualcomm's description, the future AI Phone will act as a sensor center, receiving data from the camera, wifi and other components on the phone to learn and analyze based on user behavior, then make personalized suggestions.

Similarly, MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 9300 chipset is also designed to handle generative AI tasks, capable of running models with up to 33 billion parameters. This AI chip is said to reduce power consumption by 45% while improving performance by 8 times compared to its predecessor.

By the end of 2023, Intel will also launch "Intel Core Ultra" at the AI ​​Everywhere event, specializing in AI laptops and can soon be applied to handheld devices such as tablets and phones.

Race of the "big guys"

Google can be considered the first mobile company to bring generative AI to smartphones, although it is still in its infancy. Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are equipped with Tensor G3 chips that can handle a series of smart tasks such as photo editing, call screening, real-time translation, and summarizing web page text with virtual assistants. Tasks on Pixel 8 are rated as smooth as chatbots Bard and Bing AI. Google Pixel 8's virtual assistant is also smarter, able to understand users' commands even when they stumble or pronounce incorrectly.

Samsung also confirmed that the new generation Galaxy S model with the highlight of AI technology will be launched on January 17. The company calls this the first AI Phone that can bring a true Generative AI experience on the phone. According to some sources, the artificial intelligence created on Samsung devices can directly translate phone calls in many languages ​​and return them in text form. In addition, tasks related to editing and searching by image are also significantly upgraded.

While rivals are equipping AI processing chips for their flagship smartphones, documents obtained by Android Authority last month show that Apple is looking to shrink its large language model (LLM) so that older iPhone users can also experience generative AI. In the conventional approach, AI Phones need a large amount of RAM to have high read and write speeds, thereby producing faster results. Apple's solution, on the other hand, could help users not need a powerful device.

The AI ​​Phone race is not just for big tech companies, it’s also opening up opportunities for startups. Humane, founded by former Apple employees, launched its AI Battery phone late last year and said it would be available to consumers in March.

The device doesn’t have a screen, but it does contain a mini projector that displays information on multiple surfaces. According to Humane’s introductory video, AI Pin easily receives voice commands and responds. Additionally, the device also interacts with the user and analyzes the surrounding space using computer vision.

According to Erin Griffith of the New York Times, one of the early testers, the AI ​​Pin feels like working with virtual assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri. However, the device does not respond immediately but waits for the user to touch it to give a command. Through the GPT generative model, the response is also more natural. The device is expected to bring big changes in the way users interact with mobile devices and artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, Chinese phone brands such as Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo are also researching their own LLM models. Experts predict that China's AI Phone will also soon appear on the market this year.

According to Cnet, technology leaders like Bill Gates and Sundar Pichai believe that bringing generative AI to phones will usher in a golden age like the dawn of smartphones and the Internet. In the early stages, only top-of-the-line mobile models will be equipped with the technology. After that, the race will heat up and AI Phones will gradually appear in the low-end segment, especially when 5G becomes a popular connection standard on smartphones.