Samsung’s Upgraded Bixby: A Beacon of Hope for AI-Driven Voice Assistants?

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has taken the world by storm, and the voice assistant market is no exception. With the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, digital assistants are back in the spotlight. Samsung, the South Korean technology giant, is jumping on the bandwagon by launching an upgraded version of its voice assistant Bixby this year, powered by its own large language model (LLM).

Bixby Vision allows users to scan objects using their phone camera and provides information about them.

In an interview with CNBC, TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile division, revealed that the company is going to advance Bixby with the application of Generative AI (Gen AI) technology. This move is part of Samsung’s broader push to market AI features on its suite of devices.

“We’re going to advance Bixby with application of Gen AI technology,” Roh said. “We are reinforcing and bringing more AI capabilities to our products.”

Launched in 2017 with Samsung’s Galaxy S8 smartphone, Bixby has a variety of functions, including live translations and restaurant recommendations. The upgraded Bixby promises to take the voice assistant to the next level, but Samsung will maintain its strategy of allowing multiple voice assistants on its devices, including Google’s AI assistant.

Samsung’s latest foldable devices, the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6, showcase the company’s commitment to AI-driven innovation.

The Bixby upgrade comes on the heels of Apple’s announcement to upgrade its assistant Siri with AI capabilities, leveraging OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The battle for AI supremacy has begun, and the stakes are high.

Samsung’s move to upgrade Bixby with its own LLM is a significant step forward in the company’s effort to integrate AI into its products. As consumers increasingly rely on AI capabilities, the company believes that these features will drive sales and become a key differentiator in the competitive smartphone market.

“As consumers use more AI capabilities, they can actually feel the convenience and benefits they bring,” Roh said. “I believe strongly that these Galaxy AI, mobile AI are strong motivations and drivers for the purchase of new products.”

The future of smartphones lies in AI-driven innovation.