On Wednesday, Samsung headed to the Louvre in Paris to unveil its newest range of foldables, earbuds and wearables. I was invited to attend the launch, followed by a panel where executives from Samsung, Google, Qualcomm and more joined together to discuss everything AI.
The panel covered a range of topics, from Samsung’s two-way Interpreter translations that leverage the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s two screens to the company’s deep collaboration with Google when creating Circle To Search.
The group also included Dr Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation at Goldsmiths University of London and Chief Innovation Officer at research group Symmetry, who shared his findings from Samsung’s Mobile AI Report – and it’s not looking good for those uninterested in making use of AI.
“The data really shows that there’s a potential AI divide forming”, said Dr Brauer. “This is where some are embracing AI and see the opportunities for substantial impact in quality-of-life, benefits, life-enhancing, the potential for it to help them achieve their goals and objectives and to help them navigate life successfully.”
“Then, there’s a minority of people who are not embracing it right now and are also very reluctant to embrace it. That group very strongly corresponds with self-reported low quality of life indicators and life satisfaction”.
That’s a pretty bleak sentence for those of us not looking to jump fully into AI just yet.
Of course, AI has been lurking in the backgrounds of our digital lives for the last decade, powering many of the apps in our phones and PCs while keeping a relatively low profile. However, the technology has made leaps in the last year or so – particularly in the mobile world – catapulting to the attention of the general public thanks to generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Dall-E.
Samsung’s study looked at 5000 adults across France, Germany, Korea, the UK and the US, and cited creativity, productivity, social relationships and physical health as its key quality-of-life indicators. That isn’t a huge pool and doesn’t encompass the whole world, like the regions most affected by the digital divide – something else that was discussed during the panel.
When people talk about the digital divide, they aren’t just referring to those of us still holding onto an iPhone 11. According to Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer at Qualcomm, Don McGuire, 30% of the world is still under- or not-connected, meaning they have limited to no access to the latest devices and technology.
“AI has the potential to ever further create this problem of the digital divide”, said McGuire. “Some people might say ‘Oh, people are better off not being connected because then they don’t have to deal with social media’ but there are so many obvious positive aspects to being connected for healthcare and other reasons like education and moving the socioeconomic status of people all around the world”.
“Solving that basic digital divide and connecting the underconnected is going to help bring more access and more accessibility to AI tools. […] We’re all running fast and furious towards the future but there are some basic principles, things, that need to be solved”.
McGuire mentioned how Qualcomm were working together with Samsung and Google has its own initiatives to help bridge this digital divide. However, it’s hard to believe that this 30% will drop to 0% anytime soon.
Regardless of whether it’s by choice or involuntary, this research hints at the potential consequences of the rest of the world speeding toward an AI-reliant future. It’s also probably designed to scare you into buying a Z Fold 6 so I’m going to take it with a pinch of salt for now.
