Much like the Pixel 8, the Galaxy S24 could turn out to be not powerful enough for all on-device AI tasks

Ay, caramba! Or, if phone chips could talk, they’d say: Caramba – AI!

The artificial intelligence tasks, pushed and marketed aggressively, are demanding and don’t go easy on the hardware, but it is what it is – so, they (the chips and the chipmakers) better get their act together and prepare for the back-breaking bonanza that’s coming.

As you probably know by now, the Galaxy S24 series will be all about AI and the tricks that come with it. For some time now, Samsung has been calling the Galaxy S24 an ‘AI phone’. Something more – a Samsung boss apparently instructed his staff to search for a substitute word for ‘smartphone’ that will cover and replace the ‘AI phone’ term, but that’s not as stiff and as close to ‘iPhone’ when pronounced…

There’s a new leak that says: however powerful and potent the Galaxy S24 might turn out to be, for some AI tasks, it will simply not have the muscles needed to perform them on-device. Much like the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro (this duo is also heavily AI-marketed), which rely on outside help from Google’s servers.

What’s the catch?

A new X post from the tipster Arsène Lupin (if the name rings a bell, that’s a fictional character from 100 years ago – a gentleman thief and master of disguise who loves to steal from the rich) lists the following official information about the Galaxy S24 Ultra starting with “Do more with the most epic Galaxy yet”.

There’s more leaked info as well, with the hint that not everything AI will be done on-device:

• Live Translate - Speak foreign languages on the spot, right from inside the Samsung Phone app, with Live Translate.
• Nightography Zoom - Bring your night into the light. Incredible low light shots made easy.
• Generative Edit - Move or remove objects. Fill in empty space with Generative Edit. Requires Samsung account login and internet connection.
• High Resolution - Share more of life’s most share-worthy moments in natural, true to life color with a 50MP camera.
• Screen Display - See it all in stunning detail on the bigger and brighter screens of Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus. Look at your pics outside without squinting or looking for shade. And wind down before bed with your screen at just the right brightness, thanks to Eye Comfort Shield. No matter where you are, see what you love clearly.

Here’s the tweet itself:

This sounds exactly like the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro AI routine – they send some tasks (like photos that are retouched with Magic Editor) to Google’s servers for completion.

Compete harder

The (not just) AI competition between Samsung and Google (and Apple) is great news – it means that in theory, we’re going to get more things, and faster. The fine line between inspiration by chivalrous competition and outright stealing from one another is indeed fine in the big tech world; but we, as consumers, shouldn’t be that preoccupied with it.

There’s one area where Samsung could really step up its game, a field that Google shines in: the Call Screen feature. Sure, playing with more and more jaw-dropping photo/video editing tricks is nice and all. Having a refined Call Screen feature, on the contrary, is not fun – it’s a relief.