His collaborators call him “Mr. Creative”. The Creative. But maybe it’s time to update that nickname. I suggest “Mr. TO THE”. Tae Moon Rohpresident and head of the division Mobile Experience di Samsung, smiles amused. He tries to contain himself, with difficulty. It’s clear that he doesn’t mind the nickname.
Next to him, Simon Sung, the company’s European CEO, laughs uproariously. And he corrects me: “Yes, we’ll call him Mr. Mobile AI”.
But then they both make up again. For Samsung, artificial intelligence is no joke. The South Korean company has just revealed his new Galaxy S24a smartphone designed and built – for the first time – aroundIA generativean amazing technology capable of producing texts and images like a human being would.
“For me, generative AI is not the end – TM Roh told us last July – Indeed, it is the beginning of ‘me’. I consider it a tool.” Six months later, the manager’s vision took the form of a telephone.
“I am convinced that mobile devices, including smartphones, will become the main access point to artificial intelligence and its applications,” says TM Roh, occasionally consulting the notes written in Korean that he has neatly arranged in front of him. TM Roh speaks in his language, slowly. A woman next to him translates into English.
Just a few hours earlier, TM Roh was a tiny dot in the center of the arena where they play ice hockey the San Jose “Sharks”.a city in California that is home to some of the largest tech companies in the Silicon Valley: Adobe, Intel, Oracle.
(reuters)
In the Sap Centerwhich everyone in San Jose calls “the shark tank”Samsung has set up a spectacular setting for its Galaxy Unpacked, the global event through which the company unveils – every year – its top-of-the-range smartphones. TM Roh opened the event. Among the guests there was also MrBeastthe most famous – and highest paid – YouTuber in the world.
An hour of presentation, well thought out. Great space for demonstrations of the AI-based functions of the new smartphone. One of these allows you to translate (almost) in real time phone calls between two people who don’t speak the same language.
“We want to allow people to communicate without barriers” says TM Roh, finally looking his interlocutors in the eyes.
Behind the Samsung top manager, in the room of the Signia hotel in San Jose chosen for the interview with a selection of European journaliststhere is the writing “Galaxy S24” surrounded by stars: they are the symbol of artificial intelligence.
On the new Galaxy S24 the “stars” come into action when you need to summarize notes or a web page. Or when you want to modify an image in a creative way, for example by moving an element within a shot.
Tech Samsung’s first “AI Phone” is a question of alliances, costs and respect from our correspondent Pier Luigi Pisa 20 January 2024
These operations were confined, until recently, to the computing power of computers. Samsung instead aims to put AI in people’s pockets. “By the end of this year we will bring Galaxy AI to one hundred million devices around the world,” says TM Roh. And he explains that even the most recent models – launched during 2023 – will soon receive the new “generative” functions: these are the Galaxy S23 and the two foldable Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
Ma generative AI is still a minefield. There are concrete risks linked to the privacy of those who use it. And then we must take into account the “hallucinations”, i.e. the tendency of artificial intelligence to produce completely invented or incorrect content. By integrating this technology into your mobile devices, Samsung beat Apple to the punch and other major smartphone manufacturers. But she also took a risk. TM Roh is aware of this: “We will protect user data with Knox [la tecnologia sviluppata da Samsung per la sicurezza dei suoi dispositivi mobili, nda] and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure adequate security filters.”
“We want to guarantee maximum transparency regarding the use of artificial intelligence – adds TM Roh -. Users will decide whether to exploit AI only on the device or whether to access greater performance using AI that requires an internet connection.”
What’s inside the new Samsung Galaxy S24, the smartphone designed for those who use generative AI
And here we come to the reason why TM Roh flew from Seoul to San Jose, a city that offers little beyond technology. A few kilometers away, just eighteen minutes by car, there is another symbolic location of Silicon Valley. It’s called Mountain View and houses the headquarters of Google.
Samsung has chosen Gemini, Google’s most advanced AI model, to make its Galaxy S24 even smarter. Some of the functions of the new smartphone – the ability to move or delete elements in an image, in fact – totally depend on Big G’s generative AI. All this comes at a cost for Samsung. And it could have it, in the future, for the consumer too.
What we know, in fact, is that AI-based tools they will be offered free of charge by Samsung until 2025.
But what will happen next? Will users have to pay to use AI?
(reuters)
“AI has a high cost – explains TM Roh – both for the use of the cloud and for the resources necessary for training and improving the models. We are only at the beginning of the AI Phone era. The smartphone industry will change and consumer needs will change too. Some tools will remain free, but more powerful AI may come at a cost in the future. It will depend on the needs of consumers.”
And maybe, it will also depend on Google’s strategies. But on this point TM Roh is very clear: the AI deal is not exclusive. “Open collaboration is essential for us – he explains -. For the Galaxy S24 we chose Google because it offered us the solutions that we considered best for our mobile devices. But if necessary, in the future, we may work with other partners to develop specific functions for our products.”
There is another cost that TM Roh is careful not to underline. It is what the environment must sustain. The new generative AI requires an enormous expenditure of energy, in particular a disproportionate consumption of water. It’s not just a Samsung problem, but this aspect certainly clashes with it the sustainability that the South Korean company pursues with commitment: from smartphones to packaging, many materials are recycled.
“The Galaxy S24 is the first device in the world to recycle cobalt and other rare materials,” says TM Roh. Furthermore, with the new top of the range, Samsung is committed to offering seven years of operating system and security updates. This is a notable increase compared to the past extends the life of phones. Added to this is the South Korean company’s Self Repair program, which allows its customers to purchase original spare parts for smartphones and tablets to be able to repair them independently.
How powerful will AI be in seven years? And on which devices will we use it? TM Roh doesn’t have a crystal ball, but he is certain that artificial intelligence, combined with mobile devices, will mark the next decade of the technology industry. “Because this is a revolution like the one we witnessed in the 90s with the internet and in the 2000s with smartphones” states the Samsung manager.
(reuters)
And how do you see yourself in ten years’ time? What legacy do you intend to leave at Samsung?
In answering this question, TM Roh speaks freely for the first time. And he concentrates on finding those words that until a few moments before he had fished out, infallibly, from his mind. With an efficiency that would be the envy of a car.
“The philosophy of Samsung Electronics, like that of Samsung Mobile, is clear – states TM Roh -. Based on available technology, we are committed to offering products and services that contribute to the good of humanity and society. My mission for the next few years is to put this vision into practice. To ensure that Samsung is even more loved and respected in the world.”