Artificial intelligence is an increasingly debated topic in society, and more and more people are becoming interested in what AI can do for them. Many are turning to products that integrate AI to make their lives easier, and a good number of them are turning to the Samsung brand, which has integrated AI into all its product categories. To better understand what Samsung is doing to bring AI as close as possible to consumers, but also to find out what concrete benefits artificial intelligence products have for buyers, we spoke with Simona Panait, Marketing Director, Samsung Electronics Romania and Bulgaria.
Simona Panait, Marketing Director Samsung Romania and Bulgaria PHOTO Samsung
According to a survey conducted by Kantar for Samsung Romania, 67% of Romanians with incomes over 5000 lei, from urban areas and who own at least one premium electronic product, declare that they understand what AI means and that they can mention products/services who already use AI. But the discussions revealed that this knowledge is limited, being for example only the GPS of the car or the generative AI. How does Samsung Romania propose to bring artificial intelligence closer to consumers and expand their knowledge of AI?
AI is a new technology and Samsung is the first brand to implement it, initially on the premium Samsung Galaxy S24 series smartphones and now, just a few months away, across all product categories, an effort that is part of the commitment our democratization of this technology. We regularly look at the market, both locally and more broadly, and analyze consumer awareness. Indeed, in Europe, the Samsung Intelligent Living: How AI is Enhancing Everyday Experiences survey showed that only 15% of Europeans know how to use artificial intelligence to improve their daily lives and we measured a similar trend locally. But one of the thrusts of this goal of democratizing AI is to educate the public so that consumers can make informed choices about the products they need. On the other hand, the latest data show that Romanians, for example, look enthusiastically at this technology and among the household appliances they currently use, the washing machine, dryer and refrigerator are the ones they would like to have trade in 51% for ones with built-in AI.
According to the same survey, 69% of Romanians believe that, in the long term, the development of AI will have a positive impact on humanity, that products/services with integrated AI have a higher level of performance and that AI stimulates innovation. How do you see the connection/interdependence between AI and innovation?
I too find myself among those Romanians who look optimistically towards the long-term future, but I already enjoy the current benefits of AI in the comfort of my own home – where I think it is most important to have access to such news – but and at the office, where they can solve tasks better and faster, in a word, more efficiently. Innovation is part of Samsung’s DNA, a company with a solid track record of pushing the boundaries of innovation to deliver advanced features to improve everyday life. If we talk about the latest global launches, presented this year at the IFA fair in Berlin, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, we can talk about the latest range of highly energy-efficient household appliances. The new product range includes a BESPOKE AI™ washing machine with 55% more energy efficiency than the minimum A standard, a Bespoke AI Laundry Combo™ washer dryer with energy class A and a Bespoke dishwasher with 10% more efficient. Samsung, known for its innovations in energy efficiency, has developed new technologies to help consumers save more energy in their daily lives. We can also associate television launches with innovation. Since 2015, Tizen OS has powered millions of smart TVs, accelerating the evolution of TV viewing experiences. The Samsung Neo QLED 8K AI offers an upgrade, thanks to the built-in NQ 8 AI Gen 3 processors. And these are just a few examples to which we can add The Frame or the Samsung AI Hybrid refrigerators, designed to save energy.
Samsung products with AI offer users multiple possibilities – they simplify the daily routine and increase the quality of life. Can you give us some examples of concrete benefits of using AI in Samsung products?
In my case, I have a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with me which helps me a lot at the office. New functions with AI, such as Note Assist or Interpreter, have changed the way I relate to meetings. My phone is now a real personal assistant, which not only can translate in real time what a foreign colleague says, but at the end of the meeting it also gives me the key points of the meeting, arranged in a document. For anyone who has frequent meetings where they need to pay attention to everything that is being discussed, these details are a time saver.
Things change at home too, if you have a Jet Combo vacuum, for example. It is enough to “take a look” at the floor and can recommend a deep wash, if simple vacuuming is not enough for cleaning. Samsung is also trying to change the way we relate to the preparation of family meals. There are days when you might not know what to cook with what’s left in the fridge, so the Family Hub fridge with AI Vision scans the leftovers and suggests a recipe to prepare quickly. And to go further, I am sure that most readers have found themselves at least once in the situation of preparing some kind of food while their phone rings. With an Anywhere Induction hob, you can take the call hands-free, so you’ll be sure that the food doesn’t burn, but you won’t leave your interlocutor waiting either.
There are some bigger or smaller examples of situations where AI makes our lives more efficient, and over time we believe it can make a difference in the free time we earn.
How can Samsung product users smartly save energy thanks to the SmartThings ecosystem? How will SmartThings evolve in the medium and long term?
There are two things to discuss here and I will address them in turn. Regarding the former, Samsung’s AI devices already have built-in software algorithms that better manage energy consumption throughout the day, directly leading to increased energy efficiency. But we weren’t satisfied with that, because customers’ interest in low energy consumption of devices in the home is growing. For that, there’s a whole dedicated section in the SmartThings app, where users can get quick tips on how their home can use less electricity, but where they can also take concrete action. AI Energy Mode offers a lot of customizable options for every smart device in the home – TV, refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, all can perform more efficiently if the user wants it. A smart energy meter connected to the app can provide an even clearer picture of consumption and savings.
And to answer also regarding the evolution of SmartThings, our desire is to enrich this ecosystem as much as possible, from all points of view. Of course, we will control an increasing number of smart devices from a single point, with just a few taps on the screen, and the control options will also be more and more numerous. We aim to solve the problem of fragmentation of smart ecosystems – that’s why we launched and constantly cultivate the partnership with Matter, through which we bring hundreds of non-Samsung smart devices under the same “roof”. We want AI to be able to improve our customers’ lives as much as possible, so we’re focused on smoothing the interaction with the SmartThings ecosystem. The easier a service is to use, the more willing the user will be to integrate it into their daily life. And the fact that we also bring together non-Samsung smart products gives the user freedom to choose what is most suitable for his home, without the fear that he will not be able to integrate a new device into the existing ecosystem.
Samsung was present at the IFA 2024 conference, an event that celebrated 100 years of innovation. And Samsung’s journey with IFA now turns to innovations in controlling devices through advanced voice commands. Can you give us more details on this?
“Discussions”, if I can call them that, with the virtual assistants that appeared in recent years are still quite rigid, because they are programmed to understand certain keywords that we use as commands. We want to go further with Bixby and turn it into an assistant with which the interaction is as human as possible. People aren’t necessarily willing to model their natural speaking style to an assistant, so we chose to model the assistant’s understanding based on how we normally speak.
We’re on the right track, and the announcement at IFA 2024 proves it: Bixby now understands more, better, and can even remember a previous conversation. The user can ask the assistant what the weather is like today, instruct it to do the laundry, and turn on the vacuum cleaner, all in one sentence. We know that people are looking for an assistant like they probably saw in the movies years ago, an assistant that you can talk to “in your language”, and Bixby has taken a major step in that direction. And surely others will follow.
How important is democratizing access to AI technology for Samsung?
It is more than important, it is one of the pillars of our AI strategy now and in the future. At the beginning of this year, Samsung revealed “AI for All”, the vision by which we are guided for the development of intelligent products. We want them to reach as many of our customers as possible, and further, their quality of life to increase. We know that nowadays the purchase of a product also comes with increasingly high expectations regarding the user experience, and we integrate the functions with AI precisely to meet these demands from customers. And we strive to cover as much of their needs and wants as possible, and here we mean all Samsung customers. That’s why all categories of Samsung products launched this year have built-in AI functions. We intend to continue innovating at the same rate in the years to come, because all consumers deserve the products they invest in to improve their lives in a real way.
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