Samsung Galaxy AI is coming – here’s what we know so far

The concept of AI or artificial intelligence isn’t a new one and the idea has been bandied about for years but it is only recently that interest and development for AI for has reached a fever pitch with all manner of applications from enterprise all the way down to mundane concerns like helping to write a tasteful email. 

To be clear, AI development isn’t a new thing in Samsung’s stable and they’ve pursued focused applications for it with specific outcomes especially for their smartphone cameras which leverage AI to create more pleasing images such as their prior Nightography feature that offers better low light photography, their Single Take mode that leverages AI to pick out the best shots and video from a single burst of shots, AI image clipping to intelligently remove and transfer parts of an image to another and more. 

What do we know about Samsung Galaxy AI thus far

For the coming year, they’re looking to take the application of AI to new heights with the impending release of Samsung Galaxy AI in early 2024 in mobile devices that aims to make their smartphones more empowering and offer more possibilities than ever before. We managed to speak to Steve Chan, Senior Product Manager at Samsung Electronics Malaysia to find out more about Samsung Galaxy AI and what it bodes for the industry in general as well as how it would factor in or if it would be integrated with the launch of their rumoured next-gen Galaxy S24 series smartphones early next year.

During the discussion, it was made clear that the brand was aiming to up the ante on the concept of a smartphone. Rather than simply upgrading the hardware with every launch, they’re looking to enable phones and other devices to do more and be vastly more capable. 

To be clear, Samsung isn’t looking to create an alternative like ChatGPT or aiming to supplant their current virtual assistant Bixby but are looking for a mobile AI that is a consumer ready solution integrated with their mobile devices that makes communication and productivity better than ever. While Steve wasn’t able to elaborate more on Samsung Galaxy AI’s feature set or capabilities in detail, inklings of their direction are apparent if you read between the lines.

Their official prior statement on Samsung NewsRoom announcing Samsung Galaxy AI shared that it is a ‘comprehensive mobile AI experience’ that utilises both on-device AI developed in-house at Samsung and also ‘cloud-based AI’ with peace of mind with security and privacy though it isn’t immediately clear how it will interact with Samsung’s own robust Knox security solution that protects their devices from hacking and tampering.

One particular feature announced for Samsung Galaxy AI is its ability to offer AI Live Translate Call which eliminates the need for third-party apps and allows for a baked-in personal translator with audio and text translation in real-time. This has immediate applications and makes travelling even in countries where you don’t speak the language a more pleasant experience. You can check our prior feature on this here. If this is a taste of what Samsung Galaxy AI can do in a smartphone, we’re excited for what the future bodes as the sky is the limit.

One interesting aspect of the discussion was if Samsung Galaxy AI would be able to retroactively applied as an update to older devices much in the manner of how Samsung’s prior flagships get the benefits of the current one like improved camera quality, sleeker user interfaces and the like but that is up in the air at the moment as it seems that such an update will be more dependent on if an older phone’s neutral processing unit can handle the increased demands. The moment we get updates on Samsung Galaxy AI’s feature set, we’ll be sharing it here – stay tuned!