Dubai Telegraph - Awe and trepidation as AI comes for smartphones

EUR -
AED 3.879454
AFN 71.766172
ALL 98.446538
AMD 408.727287
ANG 1.903424
AOA 962.189651
ARS 1055.136057
AUD 1.630409
AWG 1.901181
AZN 1.789518
BAM 1.961728
BBD 2.132343
BDT 126.201335
BGN 1.9588
BHD 0.398064
BIF 3118.741826
BMD 1.056211
BND 1.421281
BOB 7.297188
BRL 6.105428
BSD 1.056091
BTN 89.136639
BWP 14.496666
BYN 3.456143
BYR 20701.745225
BZD 2.128773
CAD 1.480962
CDF 3026.046048
CHF 0.937129
CLF 0.037557
CLP 1036.439301
CNY 7.636301
CNH 7.645963
COP 4727.78219
CRC 539.429963
CUC 1.056211
CUP 27.989605
CVE 110.599191
CZK 25.276513
DJF 188.054673
DKK 7.458575
DOP 63.873001
DZD 141.196108
EGP 52.131744
ERN 15.843172
ETB 130.910644
FJD 2.402194
FKP 0.833686
GBP 0.831777
GEL 2.883565
GGP 0.833686
GHS 16.976135
GIP 0.833686
GMD 74.991397
GNF 9102.504493
GTQ 8.155953
GYD 220.943428
HKD 8.217753
HNL 26.666577
HRK 7.53423
HTG 138.767993
HUF 406.15981
IDR 16809.289017
ILS 3.948874
IMP 0.833686
INR 89.180057
IQD 1383.48038
IRR 44458.579959
ISK 146.095547
JEP 0.833686
JMD 167.185173
JOD 0.748958
JPY 164.521312
KES 136.515348
KGS 91.231852
KHR 4289.881246
KMF 492.563931
KPW 950.589942
KRW 1479.650439
KWD 0.32489
KYD 0.880043
KZT 523.582077
LAK 23200.543009
LBP 94573.658376
LKR 308.542304
LRD 194.845062
LSL 19.330811
LTL 3.118718
LVL 0.638891
LYD 5.158587
MAD 10.547972
MDL 19.130443
MGA 4948.044906
MKD 61.515768
MMK 3430.533723
MNT 3589.00659
MOP 8.466021
MRU 41.984863
MUR 49.842827
MVR 16.318166
MWK 1831.198548
MXN 21.74186
MYR 4.732353
MZN 67.489547
NAD 19.330811
NGN 1774.287045
NIO 38.86892
NOK 11.740652
NPR 142.624361
NZD 1.797365
OMR 0.406676
PAB 1.056111
PEN 4.024312
PGK 4.184644
PHP 62.056118
PKR 293.325825
PLN 4.325535
PYG 8247.922253
QAR 3.849933
RON 4.976236
RSD 117.044056
RUB 105.092045
RWF 1449.953783
SAR 3.967208
SBD 8.854807
SCR 14.362927
SDG 635.317643
SEK 11.596225
SGD 1.417832
SHP 0.833686
SLE 24.097471
SLL 22148.231865
SOS 603.523631
SRD 37.343937
STD 21861.445383
SVC 9.240923
SYP 2653.762908
SZL 19.339168
THB 36.814269
TJS 11.257603
TMT 3.707302
TND 3.335479
TOP 2.473748
TRY 36.27907
TTD 7.170667
TWD 34.391332
TZS 2809.522312
UAH 43.536853
UGX 3875.711004
USD 1.056211
UYU 44.865568
UZS 13525.870313
VES 47.523829
VND 26827.771874
VUV 125.395551
WST 2.94851
XAF 657.932577
XAG 0.034763
XAU 0.000412
XCD 2.854464
XDR 0.795596
XOF 657.976316
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.843317
ZAR 19.268254
ZMK 9507.174232
ZMW 28.963064
ZWL 340.099669
  • SCS

    -0.0350

    13.335

    -0.26%

  • BCC

    -1.6100

    140.94

    -1.14%

  • JRI

    0.0050

    13.245

    +0.04%

  • CMSC

    0.0150

    24.625

    +0.06%

  • BCE

    0.1410

    27.351

    +0.52%

  • RIO

    -0.1650

    60.455

    -0.27%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    24.755

    +0.1%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    35.28

    +0.48%

  • BTI

    0.2050

    35.625

    +0.58%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1500

    6.96

    -2.16%

  • NGG

    0.5000

    62.62

    +0.8%

  • AZN

    0.6000

    65.89

    +0.91%

  • RBGPF

    -0.9400

    59.25

    -1.59%

  • VOD

    0.0350

    8.785

    +0.4%

  • RELX

    0.2350

    46.355

    +0.51%

  • BP

    0.3390

    28.909

    +1.17%

Awe and trepidation as AI comes for smartphones
Awe and trepidation as AI comes for smartphones / Photo: Jenn CAIN - AFP

Awe and trepidation as AI comes for smartphones

Matthew Day was keen to find out if an artificial intelligence-packed Google Pixel 9 smartphone could tell him a great local fishing spot.

Text size:

California Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin had it whip up a playful picture of her dog in front of the state capitol building.

Igor Gaspar launched into a discussion with the Pixel regarding causes of inflation.

Fascination tinged with concern was a common reaction as people in Santa Cruz dabbled with a Pixel 9 and its capabilities, including the ability to "add" oneself to pictures and having a whip-smart digital assistant at one's command.

AFP visited the coastal California city to ask passersby to test out the features on the phone, as Google and Apple increasingly integrate AI into their products, in what they say is becoming a transformative time for the devices central to modern life.

"I asked it a question and it gave me a quick answer," Day said as he checked out the Pixel 9.

"That's a lot better than the phone I have right now, I'll tell you that much."

"(There are) definitely some incredible tools that people would have available to them to do creative things, and gather information," Pellerin said after putting a Pixel through its paces.

Yet worries also mounted.

"But I'm also concerned about nefarious uses of it, and we need to have those guardrails and regulations so it doesn't cause havoc in any industries or communities or whatever," she added.

Pellerin is backing state legislation aimed at thwarting AI being used for misinformation and deepfakes.

Along with her concerns was admiration, though, for benefits of AI features such as an "Add Me" tool that lets people take a photo of family or friends, then add themselves in as though they were part of the group from the outset.

"I could see myself, as these tools become available, utilizing them more and more," she said of AI on smartphones.

"It's scary. it's going to only increase the desperation that comes if we had to live without them."

- Bells and whistles? -

University of California, Santa Cruz, computer science professor Leilani Gilpin questioned the need to put AI in people's pockets and wondered whether confident sounding smartphone replies will mask moments when the software is "hallucinating" -- making up inaccurate information.

"Different language models hallucinate different information," Gilpin said.

"So, the same thing is going to happen for people using this," she added, hefting the smartphone.

"Whether it's for trivia or for generating images or other things, there'll be some made up information, and that's just a way that the models work."

Gilpin liked the idea of engaging with AI conversationally while out walking, but felt spoken exchanges lacked a sense of talking with a real person.

"I work on a lot of these technologies, so I feel like it's a couple of bells and whistles on things I've seen before," Gilpin said.

"I don't think it's going to be super revolutionary."

Gilpin and others also found the smartphone AI to be verbose, diving deeply into topics when short replies would suffice.

Meanwhile Gaspar and some friends created a group photo using the Pixel "Add Me" feature, with that capability alone prompting one of them to offer to swap phones.

"It was a really impressive feature," 23-year-old Gaspar said.

"But, with the information war we have I think a lot of people could be kind of scared by the futuristic aspect of things -- like you can add me to a picture in a way that's real."

Seeing powerful AI tools on new smartphones "raises eyebrows" for Gaspar, who said having it packed into iPhones could spoil his taste for Apple products unless he feels in complete control of the technology.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable with having something that's so advanced that we aren't even sure of how it works on our phones," Gaspar said.

"I do love Apple products, but if there's going to be this shift towards artificial intelligence without a choice of the consumer, I would step away from that."

 

Google appeared to be taking steps to avoid controversy, with its Gemini AI powered digital assistant on the Pixel declining to talk about elections or politics, and the image generation tool telling users it would not depict real people.

X.Wong--DT