Artificial intelligence is now more pervasive than ever in the apps and gadgets we use day to day, and that of course extends to smartphones: Google Gemini on Pixels and other Android handsets, Apple Intelligence (currently still rolling out) on iPhones, and Galaxy AI on Samsung smartphones. These tools can help you refine text, generate images, and summarize documents, among other tricks, and you don't have to go far through your apps to find an AI feature ready and willing to help you with something. With Samsung Galaxy AI, you have the option to disable the AI features you don't want to use, or switch off artificial intelligence altogether. If you're on one of the latest Galaxy S25 phones (with the fastest, AI-capable chips), you also get the option to keep most of the AI enabled but process it on your device, without transferring anything to the cloud. Galaxy AI is spread right through the latest One UI 6 and One UI 7 software updates from Samsung.

For its first phones of 2024, Samsung focused so much on its "Galaxy AI" features that, physically, the Galaxy S24 series doesn't appear to be much different than the S23. Once again, the company's phones aren't different enough to justify upgrading from their predecessors, especially knowing that the S23 series, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 and Tab S9 will be getting at least some of these AI features later this year. There's also competition from the Google Pixel 8 series, which offer many of the same new features from a more established AI company. Still, that doesn't mean we should dismiss the Galaxy S24 series altogether. Samsung's AI efforts may be an indicator of smartphone features to come.

Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S24 devices at its first Unpacked of the year. As expected, the three smartphones have a heavy focus on artificial intelligence-powered features, from the likes of live translations to image editing. Galaxy AI, as Samsung is calling the devices' overarching AI system, is behind a number of communication-focused functions. For one thing, Galaxy S24 devices will natively support live, two-way translations on phone calls without the need for a third-party app, Samsung says. Since processing for most AI features is handled on-device with the help of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Chipset and its neural processing unit, the conversations will stay private (well, aside from eavesdroppers who might catch one half of the chat).

Samsung's biannual Galaxy Unpacked event is typically big on flashy new mobile hardware, but at this year's event--held today in San Jose, California--it's the software that takes the limelight. Powering the new Samsung Galaxy S24, S24, and S24 Ultra is Galaxy AI, the catchall term for many of the new smart features debuting in the handsets. Many of these functions (but not all) are powered by Google's Gemini artificial intelligence model, and some of them already exist on Google's own Pixel smartphones. Google has long dominated Search simply by being the default option everywhere--now it's employing a similar strategy in leveraging Android to bring its AI prowess to a wider stage. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission.

We've already seen Google's "Live Translate" working its magic on phones calls, but to date, this feature is still exclusive to Pixel devices. If you happen to be a Samsung fan, though, chances are you may get to use a similar feature -- without having to install third-party apps -- early next year. According to the Korean giant, its next phone -- our money's on the "Galaxy S24" family -- will come with "Galaxy AI," which is "powered by both on-device AI developed at Samsung and cloud-based AI" from providers. Part of this package will include "AI Live Translate Call," which will show real-time translations in the form of a chat log during phone calls -- as is the case in the demo screenshot showcasing a dialog between a New York-based English speaker and a Seoul-based Korean speaker. As a bonus, the tool throws up an "add event" button whenever there's a mention of a time and a date, to let you instantly mark the calendar for your foreign acquaintance.

What makes a game replayable over time? It offers new challenges over and over again. One way to do that is to include an AI opponent that is so skilled, even advanced players will continue to be challenged after hundreds of hours of play. Race has been one of the top selling boardgames this year partly because of the neural network that powers its AI. Race for the Galaxy uses a temporal difference neural network.