Inevitable Development
Starting next year, Samsung Electronics plans to upgrade its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Bixby to a generative AI, enabling more natural conversations between users and devices. To support this, the company will equip home appliances with an ultra-low-power Neural Processing Unit (NPU) chipset to ensure the smooth operation of generative AI.
The announcement was made by Samsung Electronics during a media briefing on Sept. 2 (local time) at the International Electronics Fair (IFA) 2023 in Berlin, Germany.
Yoo Mi-young, vice president and head of software development for Samsung Electronics’ Home Appliance Division, stated, “From next year, we will integrate generative AI to facilitate natural conversations. We are preparing to implement generative AI in the voice, vision, and display sectors through the cloud.”
Samsung plans to upgrade Bixby, which is currently supported on its smartphones, to be a generative AI. This AI is expected to understand conversations and context, enabling more natural interactions, different from search-based generative AI like ChatGPT.
To enhance AI services, Samsung intends to install ultra-low-power NPU chipsets in its appliances from next year. Vice President Yoo noted, “Current Central Processing Units consume a lot of power, making it impossible to run AI 24/7. We plan to develop and install ultra-low-power chipsets that will enable 24-hour AI operations on appliances.”
Samsung Electronics will also boost AI features based on its operating system ‘Tizen.’ Starting this year, not only will Tizen optimized for voice recognition and video processing be enhanced with AI, but the lightweight “TizenRT” will also come standard with AI capabilities, covering both premium and entry-level appliances. Devices equipped with Tizen can easily add new features through updates.