Samsung to overhaul Bixby with Gen AI upgrade — But will it be enough?

Samsung’s virtual assistant, Bixby, is receiving a renewed focus thanks to an infusion of AI. But will this second attempt be enough to make Bixby relevant again?

Samsung, buoyed by its recent product announcements, has revealed the AI-powered Bixby will arrive later this year.

In an interview with CNBC, Samsung’s Mobile chief TM Roh, announced, “We are reinforcing and bringing more AI capabilities to our products… We’re going to advance Bixby with the application of Gen AI technology.”

Though this is not the first time we’ve heard about the rebirth of Bixby, it is the first time an official launch timeline has been revealed. In April, Won-Joon Choi, Executive Vice President of Samsung’s mobile business, was quoted as saying, “We have to redefine the role of Bixby, so that Bixby could be equipped with generative AI and become smarter in the future.”

“It will enable a more natural conversation and work out an interface that supports the Samsung products in our ecosystem,” Choi added.

The South Korean company has confirmed that Google Assistant will accompany Bixby on Samsung’s devices.

The news of empowering Bixby with generative AI capabilities comes within months of Apple embracing ChatGPT to improve Siri. Though Apple will offer users a choice of AI services, Samsung will likely rely on its own LLM.

Can Bixby bounce back?

Dexerto

However, like the first attempt, Bixby might struggle to compete with Siri or Google Assistant. In its first run, Samsung tried to enforce its virtual assistant; users quickly found workarounds to use Google Assistant, which was far better of the two.

Now that these competing assistants have the magic potion of ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, Samsung will have its work cut out to catch up.

These chatbots (and a few others in the wild) are far more powerful than the good old Siri or Bixby. These multi-modal chatbots can carry out human-like communication, allowing them to look at objects, listen to audio, respond, and search the internet for the required information.

Their knowledge base is far more expansive than that of virtual assistants, which helps them come up with responses or generate life-like images and videos on demand.