The emergent technology of generative AI is coming into the spotlight and will soon be available on your nearby smartphones. By 2024, this thrilling advancement is foreseen to be a major attraction, eagerly promoted by brands. It's anticipated to support smartphone manufacturers in mapping out a fresh phase of expansion.

In the past, the focus of innovation has been the enhancement of connectivity and camera features which have seen drastic improvements due to AI. But now, smartphones are projected to become savvier with the introduction of generative AI, allowing a greater range of activities to be accomplished without even launching any apps, predominantly through voice commands.

Currently, the initial development of generative AI features have been perceived. Not only tech giants like Google and Microsoft are showing an interest, but smartphone brands are also working on their AI models. The successful implementation of on-device AI has a profound significance, with the potential of reinventing not only the smartphone industry but the overall electronics sector.

The on-device AI evolution could save smartphone brands from sinking into an era characterized by low innovation and mass-market devices with little uniqueness. Such a time witnessed a competition solely driven by price, creating a destructive race that shrunk profits.

Concurrently, we can see early signs of change. Companies like Lenovo-owned Motorola are developing their large language models to power personal assistants for both PCs and smartphones. These AI-driven assistants can answer queries, draft messages and schedule tasks, all without relying on the cloud, thus mitigating data privacy concerns.

The considerable role that AI will play in enabling smartphones to carry out Gen AI tasks is reflected in the case of Google’s introduction of Gemini; an enhanced large language model capable of tasks such as composing messages or generating unique wallpapers. Google’s latest Pixel smartphones have gone a notch higher, and have included a magic eraser that can remove objects from photos and videos and change facial expressions after the click of a photo.

Accompanying these improvements is the latest generation of chipsets from Snapdragon and MediaTek. These new chipsets support running AI models directly on the device itself, thus removing the need for cloud connection. This will provide smartphone brands with extended opportunities for success and impact the industry significantly.