The light and dark of AI-powered smartphones

Analyst Gartner put out a 10-strong listicle this week identifying what it dubbed "high-impact" uses for AI-powered features on smartphones that it suggests will enable device vendors to provide "more value" to customers via the medium of "more advanced" user experiences. It's also predicting that, by 2022, a full 80 per cent of smartphones shipped will have on-device AI capabilities, up from just 10 per cent in 2017. More on-device AI could result in better data protection and improved battery performance, in its view -- as a consequence of data being processed and stored locally. Its full list of apparently enticing AI uses is presented (verbatim) below. But in the interests of presenting a more balanced narrative around automation-powered UXes we've included some alternative thoughts after each listed item which consider the nature of the value exchange being required for smartphone users to tap into these touted'AI smarts' -- and thus some potential drawbacks too.