Samsung isn’t looking to chase ChatGPT

Plenty of companies changed their outlook on AI over the last twelve months, but Samsung says it stayed true to course.

Speaking to Reviews.org at CES 2024, Samsung Australia’s vice president for consumer electronics Jeremy Senior said that Samsung’s focus when it comes to AI in tech is one driven by tangible benefits.

“In its simplest form, AI is really about taking complex tasks and making them simple,” he said.

“There is no doubt that generative AI and all those conversations created more awareness in the last couple of years but we still see that AI is the technology and what is important to consumers is the outcome.”

Senior noted that Samsung has been investing significantly in AI for over a decade and building connected functionality into its products for almost just as long.

“As we mentioned in the press conference today, we distribute over half a billion connected products every year and moving forward our commitment is to ensure that all of our products have that connectivity,” he said.

While Senior said that Samsung’s newly unveiled Music Frame didn’t get as big a cheer as he’d have liked, the return of the company’s orb-shaped assistant made up some of the difference.

“It just goes to show you that the audience here and consumers are still enthralled by cutting-edge new technology,” he said.

“There is no doubt that we are in a hyperconnected world at the moment and consumers are looking to maximise the technology at home and Ballie is going to be that cutting-edge AI companion to help you get the most out of life.”

Earlier this week, another Samsung executive told The Washington Post that the company’s goal is to bring the robot assistant to market later this year.

Senior said that a roadmap for bringing Ballie to Australia hasn’t yet been finalised but is expected to be announced sometime in the future.

Asked whether the boom in AI interest could lead to a revival of Samsung’s Galaxy Home smart speaker, Senior reflected that the definition of that category has shifted in recent years.

“We built SmartThings into many of our devices so we removed (to some extent) that need to have a companion device for that functionality,” he said.

That functionality is also what Senior believes will keep Samsung’s Music Frame ahead of its inevitable copycats. At least in Australia.

“Australia as a market has been over-indexed in Frame TV. I think the edge that we have at the moment is that this is a fantastic companion product for Frame TV as much as it is a standalone product,” he said.