Samsung could add generative artificial intelligence technology to its Bixby voice assistant

Samsung could add generative artificial intelligence technology to its voice UI assistant Bixby, a company executive told CNBC, as the South Korean giant seeks to increase the appeal of its devices, reports CNBC, quoted by News.ro.

Bixby was launched in 2017 with the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone. The software offered a number of functions, including live translations or restaurant recommendations. But voice assistants have typically been less conversational and have relied on users asking questions and getting answers.

Chatbots are now more advanced and capable of handling much more complex queries, following the advent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other chatbots.

These new-age chatbots are an example of generative AI, allowing users to ask a query and it will generate a response in the form of text, image and now even video.

Bixby is on all Samsung devices, from smartphones and smartwatches to its home appliances.

Samsung considers it a key tool for users to control their home devices.

Until now, Bixby did not have ChatGPT capabilities. Like many smartphone manufacturers, Samsung is trying to include more advanced AI functions in its devices.

The company also launched new features with Galaxy AI along with its latest S24 smartphone series.

This includes an option that allows users to try something on their screens and search on Google without having to switch between apps.

The tech giant is looking to improve its artificial intelligence with Bixby.

“So Bixby has been a key voice assistant for voice assistants for Samsung not just for mobile devices, but also for TVs and digital devices that exist in the Samsung ecosystem. So it’s been the basic voice assistant until now,” Won-joon Choi, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, told CNBC in an interview last month.

“With the advent of generative AI and LLM (large language model) technology, I think we need to redefine the role of Bixby so that it can be equipped with generative AI and become smarter in the future,” said Choi.

Adding this “will allow for a more natural conversation and create an interface that supports Samsung products in our ecosystem,” he explained.

Choi didn’t give a timeline for when Bixby might get generative AI features, but said Samsung is “working so hard” to deliver them.

Samsung’s focus on the technology comes at a time when investors are looking at what Apple will offer when it comes to generative AI.

Apple has announced that it will hold its annual developer conference, WWDC, in June, when the company is expected to talk about some AI features in its products.