The 5 smartphone AI features I use the most

As I’ve said elsewhere, you really shouldn’t buy a phone for AI. In their current state, many generative AI features aren’t that helpful, and some are prone to “hallucinating” — the industry euphemism for getting things wrong. They might become indispensable someday, but for now, you’re better off demanding things like better cameras and battery life.

I actually do take advantage of some AI features on my iPhone 16 Pro, and on the Android phones I test when I get the opportunity. In many cases, though, they’re not the big marquee ones. I can do a better job at writing an email than Apple Intelligence, and I’m not about to trust Gemini to plan a California vacation.

1 Photo editing and object removal

When presentation counts

Having done some pro photography work, I’m usually in the mindset that if a photo really counts, it’s best to put the work in before you click the shutter. That means posing people and objects, finding the best angle, and even adjusting lighting if I have some control over it. Simply flicking a switch or opening a curtain can do wonders.

I don’t always have the time to do all that, though, especially if I’m trying to capture a fleeting moment, and I’d rather not export something to Photoshop if I’m not going to get paid. So my standard procedure is to let iOS or Android do automatic image adjustments, then dial in things like highlights, shadows, and saturation as needed. From there, I can use tools like Apple’s Clean Up or Google’s Magic Eraser to erase objects I didn’t catch the first time around, such as dust, trash, or stray tourists.

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Niche, but hard to replace

Google / Pocket-lint

I actually prefer text search most of the time, simply because it’s more precise. If I want to know what printer ink I need, for example, I know I’ll get solid results if I can enter the model number into Google Search. Google Lens or Apple’s Visual Intelligence might be able to identify the model, but it could potentially get the wrong one, or just tell me that I’m looking at a printer, period.

There are times when there’s no easy way to describe what I’m looking at, however, or I want faster access to details like a shop’s business hours. I also take advantage of date recognition to add items to Apple and Google’s calendar apps, which definitely saves me a minute here and there. Manually creating events may not be the greatest pain in the world, but I’m busy enough that any reduced friction is welcome.

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3 Narrower weather forecasts

What I need to know before heading out the door

LoneStarMike / Creative Commons

I have a number of Amazon Echo Speakers in my house — and access to weather apps on just about every device you can imagine — but something that’s irritating is how shotgun the forecasts can be. There are often options to drill down, but most weather tools are concerned with daily highs, lows, and percentages, rather than what I need to know when I’m headed to my car or EUC.

With generative AI on phones, it’s possible to phrase weather questions in the way you’d ask other people — say, “Is it going to rain at five o’clock?” or “Is there a chance of ice on the roads?” If you’re concerned about clothing, you can even ask a question like “Will I need a coat today?”

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4 Advanced smart home control

Finally, less twiddling in apps

Generative AI isn’t a big thing with smart homes yet, but there’s a lot of promise, especially with Alexa+ coming in March. That’s because the convoluted nature of apps and voice commands has been one of the biggest barriers to smart home adoption. If you’re not already tech-savvy, it can be difficult to understand why Alexa or Siri won’t control multiple rooms at once, or set up an automation for you without forcing you to dive several menus deep. Good luck if you haven’t given your accessories memorable names.

Gemini already understands Google Home commands like “set the AC to a good temperature for sleeping” or “help me clean up the kitchen.” I’m excited about Alexa+ because it’ll let me create routines by voice alone — for instance, asking it to “turn off the living room lights every weekday at 10PM.” In retrospect, I wonder why that wasn’t a higher priority with older voice assistants.

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5 Automatic audio mixing for video

Still room to grow though

Apple

I feel like this technology is underrated, as I explained in another op-ed. The built-in microphones on most smartphones are pretty terrible beyond mouth range, but with AI mixing, it’s at least possible to filter out noises like wind or car alarms, and/or dial up voices, depending on the phone you’re using. There’s not much control on my iPhone 16 Pro — but its Audio Mix feature can eliminate some noise, optionally changing where voices sit in the mix at the same time.

This is another one with more potential down the road. With better microphones and processors, I’ll bet phones could come surprisingly close to sounding like professional equipment.

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