Tech firms are racing to bring to market advanced smartphones that use artificial intelligence to do everything from ordering food to composing messages with a simple voice command.
Widespread adoption of phones running on so-called AI agents would be a revolution, but it would also take control away from mainstream apps, which aren’t always happy about it.
At least three firms were showing off so-called agent phones at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai this weekend – foreshadowing what could be to come.
Smartphone maker Nubia unveiled its NaviX Ultra, a phone powered by Doubao, China’s massively popular AI chatbot powered by TikTok creator ByteDance.
“A new era of AI agent smartphones begins,” Nubia said, sharing images of the handsets online.
A limited run of a prototype called the “Doubao Phone” quickly sold out in December.
Initially, the prototype could follow simple voice commands to execute tasks across apps, including ordering food and comparing shopping prices.
However, days after it was released, tech giants including Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com restricted access to the built-in assistant on their platforms.
The move effectively disabled the phone’s AI agent, so ByteDance disabled the powerful tool in certain circumstances, including when payments were involved.
‘Lose control’
Gaining broad access to applications owned by other companies is a sticking point for AI agent devices, said Kiranjeet Kaur, associate director of research at US market intelligence firm IDC.
Platforms want to maintain direct contact with their users, otherwise “they lose control to another party,” she added.
“Agenting is everyone’s dream, but we’re not there yet,” as the performance of AI agent tools is still often unclear, Kaur said.
According to Chinese tech media, NaviX Ultra doesn’t try to force its way into apps, but seeks to collaborate with them.
The first generation Doubao phone was bricked when the main applications blocked unauthorized access.
AFP has contacted Nubia for comment.
Another manufacturer, Honor, showed off an AI system for its “Robot Phone,” whose interactive camera flips on a tiny robotic arm.
The company says its “companion-centric” device can interpret human gestures and dance to music, as well as take steady selfies and videos.
An agent using AI models, some co-developed with Alibaba, will be built into the robot phone when it goes on sale later this year, Honor told AFP.
“There is no clear winner”
Shanghai-based AI startup StepFun also unveiled an “intelligent AI agent robot,” STEPX Neo, ahead of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.
StepFun chairman Yin Qi said “deep partnerships” had been established with several major Chinese platforms, including Alipay and travel giant Didi, according to a sponsored article on the state-run Xinhua news agency.
“Using these services, the smartphone can provide one-stop support for travel bookings, daily shopping, local services, office productivity and video editing,” he said.
Outside of China, big tech companies like Google are busy stuffing smartphones with increasingly advanced AI features, such as the ability to book appointments.
US startup Brain Technologies launched a “Natural AI Phone” that went on sale in Japan in April in partnership with mobile giant SoftBank Corp.
In a demonstration given to AFP in April, the Brain Technologies phone – which connects to a range of apps, including the LINE social network – sent a contact to apologize for the delay in just one audio command, even though it often failed to comply.
“There is still no clear winner in this race, which is why it is currently quite a hot topic,” said Marc Einstein of Counterpoint Research.
But in five or 10 years, we won’t be using apps on our phones “like we do today,” he predicted.
“This will fundamentally change the digital economy and disrupt business models.”
