Title: Samsung's Galxy S25 AI Assistant: Your All-in-One Assistant, Sans the Email Send Button
The graveyard of last year's failed dedicated AI assistant devices seems to be ripe for disruption. Enter Samsung, ready to stamp on those tombstones and declare the true maturity of the AI assistant era. The Samsung Galaxy S25 series could be the sole contenders taking a shot at mobile cross-app capabilities. They stand as a testament, promising to convert a text into a calendar event, nearly effortlessly, provided you trust their AI won't err.
This unveiling at Samsung's latest Galaxy Unpacked event echoes much of what Apple promised with Apple Intelligence, albeit now brought to life. However, the issue of AI reliability lingers as a persistent concern; we've yet to see how these features perform in real-world usage.
The Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra devices have now embraced Google Gemini, ditching the proprietary AI blend of Samsung's previous devices. Yet, while Google's software leads the charge, it doesn't mean Samsung apps are left behind. For instance, if you request a calendar event based on a screencap, the native Samsung Calendar will still be the default option unless you explicitly mention Google Calendar.
Legacy features like call translation, prominent in the previous Galaxy S24, continue on-device. Newer AI features, like the Magic Eraser-like generator, are now available on-device due to the enhanced Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. AI-enhanced Galaxy and settings search functions are within reach, but keep in mind that your on-device Gemini assistant may not stick around for every prompt.
In fact, with the user-customizable AI settings, you can decide which apps and content the AI is permitted to access, not just for your AI assist prompts, but also for the new Now Brief widget appearing on your lock screen. This information, by default, gains access to a wide array of elements from your health tracking to photos and calendar data.
Samsung calls this on-device AI privacy the "personal data engine." Apparently, user data is encrypted end-to-end when it's sent to the company for cloud processing. Samsung also assures that it doesn't use prompts or personal information for targeted advertising. However, if you prefer to process data on-device instead of relying on the cloud, certain AI features may become unavailable.
The wide range of software enhancements promises intriguing potential, but a real-world test outside Samsung's closely guarded preview environment remains a necessity. It's worth noting that not all new AI features operate directly on-device. More complex tasks require reliance on Google's stretched data centers, which guzzle water and electricity at an alarming rate, contributing to our ongoing climate crisis.
In this AI-reliant world, the AI will never send a text for you or hit the button to change your settings. It will only guide you to the correct page, leaving the control in your hands. You'll be able to rectify any mistakes your AI model might make. The challenge lies in whether the AI will still accomplish its tasks even when you're not actively supervising.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 series, with its advanced tech and technology, aims to shape the future of AI assistants, surpassing the limitations of previous devices. Moreover, Samsung's commitment to on-device AI privacy allows users to control which apps and content their AI assistant can access, ensuring a personalized data engine.