Every time I try out a new AI feature on a smartphone, I ask one persistent question: Am I going to use this every day? I wonder if the software engineers, developers, and executives at the world’s biggest smartphone brands and software companies had the same thoughts while designing and marketing these features. Well, I don’t think that’s the case — at least, judging by the AI-centric features currently available on smartphones. And, I don’t believe I am wrong in my observation. From the beginning of the year until now, I have likely used all the smartphones from every major brand marketed for next-generation Gen Artificial Intelligence capabilities and tested beta versions of AI features in advance before they were rolled out to consumers. By the end of the year, I honestly lost track of how many AI features exist on smartphones. It’s hard to keep track, even for someone like me who closely covers this space — let alone for consumers trying to remember the updates on their smartphones. And that’s where the problem really begins. There has been too much emphasis on AI and its branding, but in reality, the first wave of AI-powered features barely makes the smartphone experience any different from the phones I used last year. It makes me wonder if the AI-centered features that have been marketed so heavily — almost shoved in our faces — are more of an afterthought than a way to seamlessly integrate them and improve the user experience, which has remained stagnant for the past few years and is crying out for an overhaul on smartphones, the most personal devices we use. Although tech companies have made it clear that the rollout of AI features is first-generation and just the beginning — and I appreciate their honesty — they can’t sell smartphones on the promise of something they have openly admitted isn’t ready yet. I understand the pressure on tech companies (and engineers) to bring generative artificial intelligence — a type of AI that can ingest and analyse visual information at scale and produce new text and video content with a simple prompt — to smartphones as quickly as possible. However, the problem is that barring two or three features, hardly any AI functionality on smartphones has truly stood out. I might have had a softer attitude toward tech companies and smartphone brands if they hadn’t marketed AI as groundbreaking and had been brutally honest about what consumers should expect. No matter how hard tech companies try to position AI as “helpful” and “life-changing,” it feels more like a sidekick than something that genuinely enhances the everyday smartphone experience. Take the case of writing tools, like those in Apple Intelligence, which help you rewrite, proofread, or summarize text, or Gemini in Google Messages. Both AI features are marketed as tools to fix typos, improve grammar, and make your writing sound more “professional.” But honestly, when I text someone, I rarely worry about whether I am making a typo or need to paraphrase a sentence. We all make typos and errors — that’s just how a free-flowing conversation should be. Frankly, it would be overwhelming if someone felt the need to fix grammar or typos before every conversation. It’s like how Instagrammers and creators touch up and use filters before posting images on social media. You don’t need to be a grammar nerd or use expressive language to have a conversation. Perhaps such tools might be useful in a work-related context — like drafting an email to a client — but they are hardly an everyday feature. Now imagine using these AI writing tools to impress HR and your hiring manager with your writing skills, landing the job, only for everyone to later realise how poor a communicator you are. It would be a disastrous situation for the company. My biggest gripe with Writing Tools is that, although Apple likes to emphasise how deeply these features are embedded in the operating system, the reality is that it’s impossible to remember they exist because they only appear when you highlight words. I wish the feature was better integrated—perhaps directly into the keyboard itself. Other AI features aren’t impressive either — perhaps a bit more gimmicky and even less useful. Both Google and Apple are offering image generators — Google has the Pixel Studio preloaded in the Pixel 9 series, and Apple has something called Image Playground as part of iOS 18.2. I used both AI features extensively, and I find them amusing and comical, which makes me question their purpose and how truly useful they are. Sure, they are fun and harmless, but they haven’t had a lasting impression, and the initial excitement fizzles out after a week of testing. For me, though, two features that have stayed with me for a long time are Google’s Circle to Search and Apple’s Visual Intelligence. Both AI features seem designed for a mobile-first experience, and both excel in what they are truly designed to do. Circle to Search began rolling out on the Samsung Galaxy S24 and quickly found its way to almost every new Android smartphone. The idea of looking up information by simply circling an object with your finger to get matches from the web is pure genius. It is sort of an extension of Google Search, but with a heavy focus on visuals, allowing you to get context on anything you are seeing. It works brilliantly each time I use the AI tool—and the fact that it lets you circle, highlight, or tap pretty much anything on your screen and search for it on Google makes the execution brilliant. It’s a simple idea that takes advantage of both software and hardware. I also liked Visual Intelligence for the same reason. While Visual Intelligence requires you to use the iPhone 16's new dedicated camera hardware button to scan the world around you, it works best for quickly pulling up information on the go. I tried the feature in every city I recently visited — Shenzhen, New York, and Colombo — and it paves the way for how we might use the iPhone in the future. It's a well-thought-out, executed feature that, again, is designed for the iPhone. I am not saying I don’t see the potential in AI. All I am saying is that the current generation of AI features, or mobile-centric AI features, are few and far between. It appears that tech companies are just throwing AI into smartphones without truly knowing what works as an everyday experience or what features blend well with the user interface and mobile experience. The fact that Circle to Search and Visual Intelligence work is because they are optimised for mobile, but I can’t say the same for every AI-infused feature available on smartphones. Some may work individually, but on the whole, they lack purpose on smartphones. I think what Meta did with Ray-Ban smart glasses should be a benchmark for what AI can do when it blends well with the form factor. I am surprised to see how Meta has been able to do the right things by offering AI-first features such as Live AI and translation, yet didn’t falter in execution. At a time when smartphone companies are running out of ideas and phones are becoming boring, AI was supposed to be a ray of new hope, but right now it appears to be all over the place. Some AI-based features do stand out, like Magic Editor and real-time transcribing capabilities, while others have great potential, like Apple Intelligence's message and notification summaries. But as a whole, modern smartphones and their user interfaces still feel the same. Simply cluttering the interface with AI might not work; instead, AI needs to be woven into the UI to elevate the experience. Possibly, AI taking action for you — something these tech companies have promised for a long time with virtual agents — could make smartphones different from where we stand right now. I don’t think tech companies will slow down or take a pause; I think the standards and expectations will only get higher in 2025. I just hope we don’t end up in the same place as we did with the Metaverse.
