Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon.
All these tech companies have built Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assistants into their products. Whether you’re using Alexa to purchase items from a store or asking Google’s Assistant whether it’s going to rain tomorrow, AI is looking like the main feature that all future products will utilize.
Samsung is about to be another company added to the list of companies incorporating an AI assistant in their products. On March 29, when Samsung officially launches their Galaxy S8 phone, expect to see “Bixby” announced as their AI assistant.
So compared to Apple (Siri), Microsoft (Cortana) and Google (Google Assistant), what makes Samsung’s Bixby standout from the competitors?
According to Dr. Injong Rhee, Samsung’s head of research and development for software and services, “Bixby” is supposed to be more of an “intelligent user interface”.
Dr Rhee says that Bixby is designed to let you seamlessly switch between voice commands and touch interfaces, and help you along various steps of your task.
In the end, Samsung wants the interface of the phone to be more simpler and more natural to use.
“Everything you can do with a touch command, you can do with a voice command when using a Bixby-enabled application,” says Dr Rhee.
Don’t expect Bixby to only be on Samsung’s smartphones. Just like it’s competitors, Samsung aims to transition Bixby to its other products including appliances and televisions.
It should be interesting to see what Samsung brings to the table in terms of it’s new virtual assistant. In the developed world, AI is growing rapidly with assistants like Alexa becoming popular everyday and being integrated into pop culture.
In our neck of the woods, it’s tough to see how much users actually make use of AI assistants on their phones. Sometimes it’s more like a novelty when you can ask Siri or Cortana to give you a weather update. But using AI to purchase items, check local sports teams, check bus schedules and other activities in Ghana is yet to be seen on a full scale.
But nevertheless, Samsung is getting into the AI game. It should be fun to see how this plays out.
Source: Samsung Newsroom
