Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S24 smartphones throughout a media preview occasion in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Samsung, the world’s most prolific smartphone maker, is leaning into synthetic intelligence as the important thing to unlocking higher gross sales this 12 months. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Samsung might add generative synthetic intelligence expertise to its voice assistant Bixby, a prime government on the firm advised CNBC, because the South Korean large seems to be to reinforce the enchantment of its units.
Bixby launched in 2017 with Samsung’s Galaxy S8 smartphone. The software program supplied plenty of capabilities, together with stay translations or restaurant suggestions.
However voice assistants have sometimes been much less conversational and have relied on customers asking questions and getting solutions.
Chatbots are actually extra superior and in a position to deal with far more complicated queries, after the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its rivals. These new-age chatbots are an instance of generative AI, which permits customers to immediate with a question and can generate a response within the type of textual content, an image, and now even video.
Samsung’s Bixby is throughout the corporate’s units, from smartphones and smartwatches to its home equipment. The agency sees it as a key instrument for customers to manage their units of their dwelling.
To date, Bixby has not had the capabilities of ChatGPT.
Like many smartphone makers, Samsung is trying to infuse its units with extra superior AI options. The corporate additionally launched new options with Galaxy AI, together with its newest S24 sequence of smartphones. This consists of an choice that lets customers circle one thing on their screens and seek for it on Google, with out having to modify apps.
The tech large is trying to amp up its AI with Bixby.
“So Bixby has been a key voice assistants voice assistant for Samsung not only for the cell units, but additionally for TVs and digital home equipment that exist in Samsung’s ecosystem. So it has been the core voice assistant assistant thus far,” Gained-joon Choi, government vice chairman at Samsung’s cell enterprise, advised CNBC in an interview final month.
“With the emergence of generative AI and LLM (massive language mannequin) expertise, I consider that now we have to redefine the position of the Bixby, in order that Bixby may very well be outfitted with generative AI and turn out to be extra smarter sooner or later,” Choi mentioned, including this can “allow a extra pure dialog and to work out an interface that helps the Samsung merchandise in our ecosystem.”
Choi didn’t give a timeline when Bixby could get generative AI options, however mentioned that Samsung is “working so onerous” to ship them.
Samsung’s concentrate on the expertise comes at a time when buyers are scrutinizing what Apple will ship on the subject of generative AI. Apple introduced it will maintain its annual builders convention, WWDC, in June, when the corporate is essentially anticipated to speak up some AI options throughout its merchandise.
