Samsung Plans AI-Powered Comeback for Bixby, Its Neglected AI Assistant
Samsung is taking a page out of fancy AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google Assistant, hoping to make Bixby a little less, well, useless.
Remember Bixby? Yeah, that voice assistant on your Samsung phone you never really use? Well, Samsung is taking a page out of fancy AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google Assistant, hoping to make Bixby a little less, well, useless.
Bixby's been around since 2017, but let's be real, it hasn't exactly taken off. Samsung claimed it surpassed 200 million in 2022, but that number feels a bit... inflated (like accidentally triggering Bixby trying to adjust the volume). I am a Samsung phone user myself and I have never used the Bixby Assistant on my device.
To be fair, Bixby hasn't been Samsung's favourite child in the past. At the Samsung Unpacked earlier this year Samsung threw in some Galaxy AI features into its apps and services, but Bixby itself missed out on the party. Maybe it's because Samsung already has Google Assistant default on their phones, thanks to a hefty $8 billion deal with Google. This could explain why Bixby doesn't get as much love.
But that's all changing. Samsung is planning an AI-powered comeback. By infusing Bixby with generative AI, Samsung aims to significantly enhance its capabilities to be more compelling to users.
Won-joon Choi, an executive vice president at Samsung said "With the emergence of generative AI...we have to redefine the role of Bixby," in a CNBC interview. He envisions a future where Bixby is smarter and more dynamic, offering a more natural user experience.
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While Samsung hasn't revealed specifics, Choi assured that they're diligently working on this integration. Plus, back at CES 2024, Samsung hinted at making everything in its ecosystem work together seamlessly with AI, which sounds like Bixby may be getting some facelift too.
The bottom line is, that Bixby's about to get a major makeover to compete with the big boys in the AI assistant world. With generative AI on its side, the future looks pretty bright for Bixby.
