Explainers

The importance of artificial intelligence in smartphones

Is this still the future of technology?

Published

July 2, 2018

Gab Orlina

Have you ever wondered what smartphone brands actually mean when they tell you that their cameras use artificial intelligence (AI)?

With AI now becoming a significant part of our daily lives, we start to look into how this technology found its way into the market, and see whether or not AI truly is the future.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is a not-so-fairly new concept in the world of technology. What it basically means is that machines are given human-like intelligence through a system of information and programs or applications that are built into machines.

Machines with AI built inside can perform a variety of tasks mostly observed through human intuition like problem solving, gathering knowledge, and logical reasoning — among others. It’s basically making machines smarter and, in a way, more human-like.

Illustrations by Kimchi Lee

AI has been a part of many devices over the past few years, from smart homes to applications on your smartphone. Companies like Amazon and Google have come up with smart home devices that assist people with their day-to-day tasks such as Alexa and Google Assistant.

Businesses with online presence through company websites have also integrated chat boxes and online assistance bots that automatically answer any customer concerns depending on the information given.

How AI found its way to smartphones

Artificial intelligence was often associated with creating robots to perform human-like functions at a much faster, more efficient rate — which is heavily portrayed on mainstream media. Through AI, these machines learn more about the environment they’re in, and carefully adjust to meet the needs of the users. Such a process is called machine learning.

Nowadays, machine learning isn’t just limited to AI robots that learn what people are doing, but has now branched out to what people are thinking, inquiring about, and saying to other people. AI has slowly made its way into other devices that are much more accessible to us, primarily through the internet.

Machine learning is now incorporated into smart home devices, online video streaming websites like YouTube and Netflix, social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter; basically, the technology behind AI constantly learns more about people, their interests, and day-to-day activities.

The newest member of AI-integrated devices are smartphones themselves. Companies like Apple and Google have looked into integrating AI into the processors of their flagship phones — the iPhone and Pixel series, respectively. Early 2018 saw most Android smartphone brands integrate AI within their phones as a way of enhancing the user experience even further; Huawei and ASUS released their new flagship phone lines with their cameras utilizing AI for smarter responses to the environment around the user.

It’s quite possible that smartphones could very well lead the transition of all devices towards machine learning and AI in the near future.

Smartphones with AI

As mentioned, two companies have integrated AI into their smartphones to provide enhanced user experiences in a totally different way. One of these companies is ASUS, with their recently released ZenFone 5 series of smartphones with cameras powered by AI. Its shooters focus primarily on taking better photos and adjusting to the environment around you. The ZenFone 5’s AI Photo Learning allows the phone to learn how you like your photos and adjust the settings accordingly so you don’t have to.

Apart from its cameras, the ZenFone 5 series uses AI to boost overall performance. The base model is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, which enables the full utilization of AI features on the phone. The AI Boost technology allows the handset to have an instant hit in performance when running heavy-duty applications and games. Of course, AI in the ZenFone 5 also predicts which apps you will use next and learns which apps you use regularly.

Another company that integrates AI in its smartphones is Huawei, with the Mate 10 and P20 series. They’re powered by the Kirin 970 processor — which boosts overall performance and efficiency using integrated AI. This means that the phones will adjust to how much you use them and maximize performance every step of the way. They also come with Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 with its own set of AI features such as Smart Screen for multitasking and real-time translation during calls.

Much like the ZenFone 5, the Huawei Mate 10 and P20 phones also have cameras powered by AI. This powers the phones’ dual-lens camera setups for scene and object recognition, automatically adjusting the camera’s settings to suit the situation. Huawei also emphasizes producing professional-grade photos by allowing the AI to adjust the camera’s focus on the subject. That way, you are able to achieve a perfect-looking selfie or portrait — without the need to manually adjust the settings for a long period of time.

What we get from AI

Artificial intelligence opens up many opportunities for technology to be like humans in terms of processing thoughts and insights. What AI does is it allows machines to learn more about humans and tailor-fits its processes and capabilities to match us, from search engines to smarter applications. When treated properly, AI can actually deliver better and more efficient ways of dealing with the problems people face almost every single day.

The only downside is AI has the potential to even invade one’s privacy, especially through one’s smartphone. Because the technology is constantly learning more about its user through his or her devices, this opens the door for the data to be retrieved by, quite literally, anyone on the internet.

Because people nowadays access their smartphones almost every chance they get, people who truly know how AI works have the potential to abuse what they know and use it for their own personal gain, either through malicious activities like cyberstalking and cyberbullying, or online attacks like hacking or phishing.

The future of AI

2018 is looking like the year of AI with the unveiling of smartphones and revamped smart devices to upgrade the user experience. The possibilities for artificial intelligence are endless, given its wide usage across any available platform.

For now, it’s intelligent cameras on your smartphones that adjust settings for you to save the hassle of getting the perfect image. Some time in the future, AI could very well exist even on a gaming controller or mirrorless camera to adjust to your needs. However, we have to be aware about the dangers of using AI to its fullest as it can also lead to our own careless actions.

Indeed, the future is bright for artificial intelligence — as long as we use it for the right reasons.

Related Topics:AI artificial intelligence specials

Explainers

Everyone’s angry at PlayStation’s new no-disc policy, and this is why

It’s a tragedy for nostalgia, ownership, and preservation.

Published

July 2, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Check in with your gamer friends today. Today, a lot of gamers are up in arms over Sony’s decision to kill the physical game disc starting in 2028. But, if you’re a digital-only gamer or just not a gamer yourself, you might not understand the anger. If you want to understand the ire or just want to relate with your gamer friends, here’s a primer for you.

Ending the era of the physical media

Last year, Nintendo launched the Switch 2. Though the console still has a slot for physical cartridges, the Switch 2 also introduced the Virtual Game Card as a way to digitize your library of games.

Of course, the feature wasn’t positioned as a way to eliminate physical cartridges. In fact, Nintendo just wanted to add the flexibility of physical cartridges to the digital world. In the end, the feature strangely coincided with less cartridges. For example, Pokémon Pokopia, one of the most popular games this year, does not come with a cartridge even if you buy a “physical” copy in a brick-and-mortar store. It was a portent of things to come.

Fast forward to today, Sony has made the monumental decision to stop producing physical game discs starting in 2028. The PlayStation’s future is completely digital.

On a similar note, Microsoft is also experimenting with a disc-to-digital feature. Much like the Nintendo Virtual Game Card, the experiment will digitize libraries and attaches the digital copy to the physical game disc. It sounds awfully like a prelude to killing off the game disc.

Why this matters

The physical disc is synonymous with a simpler time. It represents a time when gamers camped out stores to anticipate midnight releases, when gamers can learn more about their games through an in-box manual, and when gamers can show off their fandom through a beautifully stocked shelf of games.

And yes, that’s part of why this situation sucks, but it’s not the only reason.

If you’re an outsider looking in, this nostalgia factor is the easiest to see. Then again, it’s also the most difficult to relate with, especially if you’ve never had the history of buying physical games.

The more crucial reason — and the one that most people will relate with — is media ownership. By not having a physical copy, you will no longer have ownership of what you bought digitally.

And it’s not an imaginary issue. In 2024, Steam amended its policies to reflect that players do not own the games they buy. Rather, they simply own a license to play the game.

In the same year, Ubisoft delisted The Crew, a sure sign that the new policy means business. Though Steam itself has a relatively good track record of prioritizing its customers, publishers and developers can get rid of games if they choose to.

That limitation doesn’t exist with a physical copy. As long as you have a working disc drive, you can install a game whenever you want, even if the publisher decides to pull it from stores.

Therein lies how much this is a touchy topic. Should you own digital goods in the same way as you own physical ones? If the answer is yes, then selling only the license for the good doesn’t make sense. But if it’s a no, we shouldn’t pay full price for something we don’t own anyway.

Will PlayStation actually delete games?

Now, just because they can, does it mean that they will?

Right now, it’s hard to say. You can certainly go by the optimistic hope that PlayStation would never do something as anti-consumer as that. And yes, there are times when you’d be right.

Plus, there is a good chance that governments, especially those in the European Union, will protect consumers if PlayStation even thinks about deleting a game that others have paid for. Governments have been known to intervene in the past, such as when the EU forced Apple to adopt USB-C as a standard. There are checks and balances available.

Then again, Sony has had recent history of deleting media from a user’s library.

Only a few days ago, PlayStation made headlines for deleting over 500 titles from their library. Starting September 1, users can no longer access movies distributed by Studio Canal, due to licensing agreements. Sony was unapologetic about unceremoniously deleting this content. No refunds, no apologies; just 500 movies, which you thought you bought, gone for good.

No matter how you angle it, Sony’s recent decisions just don’t bode well for media ownership.

You can argue that this is the price we’re paying for not buying enough physical games. Still, losing PlayStation discs, even as an option, is tragic for nostalgia, ownership, and preservation.

The world we live in

Unfortunately, this all comes with precedent. Unless you buy physical games and movies, we already don’t own anything in today’s world.

Outside games, Netflix and Disney+ remove the ownership of movies and shows from us. It’s already common practice for these platforms to remove titles regularly. Some platforms even give you a last chance to catch these titles before they go away. Moreover, they can even restrict access, like with Disney+, if you travel abroad.

In exchange for convenience, subscription services and digital storefronts have made it all too comfortable to not own media. With a rental service like Netflix, that’s all expected, but we’re now at the inevitable stage when even bought games and movies are at the behest of our corporate overlords.

This is where the fury comes from. Companies are getting more brazen about taking more options from us. Between this and the increasing prices of RAM, it’s getting harder and harder to live as a tech-savvy citizen in today’s age.

Computers

Samsung’s SECRET That Made OLED Even Better

Say hello to the new QD-OLED Penta Tandem display tech by the Korean giant

Published

May 23, 2026

GadgetMatch and Michael Josh Villanueva

Samsung Display just unveiled QD-OLED Penta Tandem technology. This is a next-generation display structure that stacks five emission layers to improve brightness, efficiency, and overall OLED performance.

In this video, we simplify what Penta Tandem actually is, how it works, and show you two monitors that already have the technology — specifically from MSI and Dell.

For more details, check out Samsung Display here.