Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, and we understand that. While AI has been around for what seems like an eternity, particularly in video games, design tools, and automation procedures, it has become a byword since OpenAI’s multifaceted chatbot ChatGPT was made available to the public in November 2022, and everyone — from individuals to industries — has jumped on the AI bandwagon. Of course, this eventually led to thousands of layoffs across industries, as startups and other businesses realized how AI could help them cut costs at the expense of human workers.
The “Will AI take over our Jobs” debate, in this author’s opinion, completely muddied the waters, making it appear to be something to be extremely concerned about.
Sure, the advent of AI shakes things up, and it will undoubtedly change the overall job scenario in the future. However, the initial wave of company cost-cutting should not be viewed as the only result of AI’s introduction into our lives. In all honesty, job cuts were the result of a thoroughly inflated economy, ongoing conflicts in almost every corner of the world, and businesses attempting to cope with the skyrocketing cost of operations following the pandemic-tech-boom bubble burst. This is more of a course correction than a commandment in stone.
As many experts have stated time and again, AI will eventually lead to the creation of new jobs and even more opportunities as it gradually becomes a part of our daily lives, much like the Internet and social media.
As AI becomes more prevalent in our lives, it will eventually alter how we interact with everything around us, particularly gadgets. When we look at the latest Google Pixel 8 phones, AI has been used in a way that makes everything easier for the user, whether it’s removing an unwanted passerby from your urban portrait or converting audio recordings directly to transcribed text.
At its Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17, Samsung introduced the world to ‘Galaxy AI’, its version of AI features that have been heavily used in the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series and are expected to appear in the South Korean tech giant’s future products as well.
Samsung used AI not only to improve essential elements such as photo quality, but also to provide a suite of features that would make a user’s life much easier.
Take Live Translate as an example. Phone calls, whether from journalists or business executives, account for a significant portion of our overall phone usage. Imagine not having to frantically scribble notes while on the phone. All you have to do is get on a call, tap the ‘Live Translate’ button, and voilà! You will see a real-time translation of whatever is said between you and the person on the other end, in the language of your choosing.
Samsung has also introduced a ‘Interpreter’ tool, which can instantly translate live conversations on a split-screen window, allowing two people to easily understand what each other is saying. What’s the best bit? You do not need to be online to do this!
It almost works like magic. In its most basic form, I believe that is how technology should feel: magical!
Samsung’s popular ‘Circle to Search’ feature functions similarly to Google Discover. You take a photo, and if you see something interesting, all you have to do is circle it, and Google will generate a variety of queries based on what you selected.
Chatting with someone but not sure how to respond? Allow Galaxy AI’s Chat Assist to help. It will generate useful suggestions, and all you have to do is tap, tap, tap away, and intervene whenever you feel necessary.
Galaxy AI’s Transcript Assist and Note Assist can instantly transcribe any piece of text, create summaries in neat bullet points, and much more. Even the Pixel phones include a live-translation feature for audio recordings.
Of course, just like the Google Pixel’s aptly named Magic Eraser tool, Samsung’s Generative Edit feature allows you to move objects around in your photo like a Photoshop wizard with a few taps.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 200-megapixel lens has been effectively utilized by the phone’s Space Zoom feature, which employs clever AI tricks to zoom into a photo as if you were using a telescope rather than a smartphone camera.
All of this simply demonstrates what AI was intended to be: a useful tool that makes your life easier by not taking over your task but instead offering you ways to increase your efficiency, allowing you to save valuable minutes on your assignments. AI is intelligent enough, but humans are far smarter than we give ourselves credit for. The idea is to use AI as a high-tech tool to make menial tasks easier rather than relying on it to complete them from scratch.
2024 is slated to be the year of AI. As more tech brands gradually shape how consumers will use AI in their daily lives, it is up to us to figure out how to transform AI from a foe to a friend.