Apple, Google, Samsung Usher In Era of AI Smartphones

• The Apple iPhone 16 starts at $799, 16 Plus $899; the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are at $999 and $1,199 to start.
• Google’s Pixel Pro 9 starts at $999, or $1,099 for the larger XL model.
• Samsung’s S24 Ultra starts at $1,299.

You’ll have to make a bigger splurge if you want more on-device storage. But generous trade-ins and monthly payment plans can help cushion the blow.

Whether an AI phone is worth it at this stage is in the eyes of the beholder.

“What artificial intelligence does is not only answers questions, but it gives you an analysis of questions,” says veteran technology analyst Tim Bajarin, the chairman of Creative Strategies in San Jose, California, who is bullish on the tech. “The older you get, you want things explained to you more so than just a link to another button. In a practical context for an older generation, that’s a game changer.”

4 things the new AI smartphones can do

Here’s some of what AI phones promise, or in some cases already can do:

1. Change tone of writing. We have different audiences when we write. A text to your boss obviously demands a different tone than a missive to your significant other. AIs on the latest phones can help.

For example, the Writing Style feature on the S24 can suggest an alternative wording among Professional, Casual or #social. You can insert or modify words based on suggestions. Other Chat Assist features, as Samsung calls them, let you automatically review spelling and grammar, translate words, or compose the copy for you.

Apple and Google have similar tools for rewriting or proofing text.

2. Summarize blocks of text. Admit it: Your eyes sometimes glaze over when you have to digest large blocks of text, including your own. AI phones can summarize longer material.

The feature is useful but not unique. Several third-party apps also let you summarize text.

Meanwhile, as part of Apple Intelligence, the latest iPhones also can summarize key points in notifications you receive on your lock screen, something along the lines of “Dr. Smith just had a cancellation. Can you get here in 30 minutes?”

3. Manage your photos. All recent smartphones boast excellent cameras. So many people shoot pictures with abandon.

But trying to find a specific photo or set of photos in your library becomes a huge challenge. AI can help with that, too: Ask Siri to find pictures by describing what’s in them.

“I could basically say to Siri, ‘Find all the pictures of my new grandchild and put them in a folder for me,’ ” Bajarin says. Or something along the lines of “Add these pictures to my Best Pals album.”

Apple added a feature that lets you remove people or objects in the background of a photo that mars the photo. The feature plays catchup to Google’s Magic Eraser introduced a year ago.

Meanwhile, Google recently added a clever photo feature in the Pixel 9 that has the opposite effect. It adds a person missing from a group photo, likely the photographer.

Here’s how it works: The person taking the picture switches places with someone else who was in the photo. A second photographer tells you where you should stand in the picture. The Add Me feature stitches the images together using AI and augmented reality.

4. Organize your life. “As Apple Intelligence gets traction among app developers, you’ll be able to ask Siri to do things across different apps like schedule a restaurant reservation based on the time that your flight is going to land. All that information is actually in separate apps, but Siri will be able to do that for you,” New Jersey tech analyst Avi Greengart says.

With both Google Gemini and Siri with Apple Intelligence, you’ll be able to have a more natural conversation than you might have now with your digital voice assistant, he says.

Apple promises to deliver its AI features while maintaining user privacy.