Name: Samsung's New Digital Assistant Won't Make Any Difference
Uploaded: 2019-12-17
Duration: 2 min 31 s
Description: The company is still reeling from its Galaxy Note 7 issues

[MUSIC PLAYING] ANDREW NUSCA: Welcome to Fortune Tech Debate where we debate the issues of the day in two minutes. Today, we're talking about Samsung's new digital assistant. All right. Let's put two minutes on the clock. Rob, take it away. ROBERT HACKETT: All right. So let's see, Samsung is working on a digital assistant for their next smartphone, the S8. ANDREW NUSCA: The next Siri, the next Cortana. ROBERT HACKETT: And here's where I stand on it. Look, Samsung has gone through a lot of issues lately with their exploding Galaxy Note 7 phone. ANDREW NUSCA: You could say that. ROBERT HACKETT: It's been an absolute disaster for the company. They've been totally scrambling to find a way to recapture their glory in the smartphone market. ANDREW NUSCA: Which is why it's not going to make any difference. Who is going to buy a Galaxy S8, when the S7s-- the Note S7s, I should say, are blowing up all over airports everywhere. No, thank you. No way. ROBERT HACKETT: I'll tell you why. AI. Because Samsung is looking to include AI into the device. In fact, there are reports that it's going to have its own separate sort of AI button as a sort of like hotline into your digital assistant, into the phone. ANDREW NUSCA: An AI button? That's the worst idea I've ever heard. So everything else is stupid, except for when you push the button and then it's smart? Like, no. ROBERT HACKETT: It's a good idea, because look, every single company right now is going in on AI. And Samsung is going to push the frontier on this. There's a lot of hype around it. But I mean, look you've got Microsoft has Cortana. Amazon has Alexa. ANDREW NUSCA: Sure, and-- [INTERPOSING VOICES] ROBERT HACKETT: Facebook's got their own AI bots. ANDREW NUSCA: And they're software companies. OK. So the one big disconnect you have here is that Samsung is a hardware company. It's built around making phones, and tablets, and TVs, and everything else. It's not really a software company. It does not know how to do AI. ROBERT HACKETT: Not traditionally, but hear me out, because look, they have acquired a company Viv, which was founded by the creators of Siri. Guess what, Siri is the technology that Apple uses. [INTERPOSING VOICES] ANDREW NUSCA: I know, and look terrible it is. Look, I have an iPhone. [INTERPOSING VOICES] ROBERT HACKETT: They brought it in-house. ANDREW NUSCA: I love my iPhone. But if you're trying to tell me that Siri is the gold standard for artificial intelligence, we have a lot-- [INTERPOSING VOICES] ROBERT HACKETT: It's certainly not. I would not go so far as to say that. But here we go. Viv the co-founder, he knows what's wrong with Siri. He created it. And he's going to build the next generation of this technology for Samsung. I mean, this is a slam dunk for the company. ANDREW NUSCA: But who's going to buy this phone when the S7, the Note S7s have had such a problem. I mean, the S8, they could put it on the market. But this is just going to be a feature at the end of the day. ROBERT HACKETT: If this AI is-- ANDREW NUSCA: Just a feature. ROBERT HACKETT: --good enough to make people's lives easier and more convenient, then it's going to sell like hotcakes. [BUZZ] ANDREW NUSCA: Well, look, we're out of time. All right. Come to fortune.com for more Tech Debate. [MUSIC PLAYING] 

Samsung's New Digital Assistant Won't Make Any Difference

Tech

The company is still reeling from its Galaxy Note 7 issues

Welcome to Fortune Tech debate where we debate the issues of the day in two minutes. Today we're talking about Samsung's new digital assistant. All right, let's put two minutes on the clock. Bob. Take it away. All right, so let's let's see. Samsung is working on a digital assistant for the next smartphone, the estate, the next ferry in the next. Cortana how and where I stand on it. Look, something has gone through a lot of issues lately with their ex bloating galaxy Note seven. Phone. You could say that it's been an absolute disaster for the company. They've been totally scrambling to find a way to recapture their glory, which is why it's not gonna make any difference. Who's gonna buy a galaxy s eight when the S seven. The note seven, I should say, are blowing up all over airports everywhere? No, no way, I because Sampling is looking to include a I into the device. In fact, their reports that it's gonna have its own separate sort of a i button as a sort of like hotline. Hey, I button, that's the worst idea I've ever heard. So everything else is stupid, except for when you push the button and then it's smart like that. It's a good idea because, look, every single company right now is going in on a I and Samsung is gonna push the frontier on this. There's a lot of hype around it, but, I mean, look, you've got Microsoft. Has cortana. Yeah. Oh, Amazon has Alexis and got their own Any I bust software companies. Okay, So the one big disconnect you have here is that is that Samsung is a hardware company. It's built around making phones and tablets and TVs and everything else. It's not really a software company. It does not know how to do not traditionally but hear me out. Because, look, they have acquired a company Vivid, which was founded by the creators of Siri, gets. What theory is the technology That athlete I know and I have terrible is Look, I haven't brought in how I love my iPhone, but if you're trying to tell me that serious the gold standard for artificial intelligence, it's not. I would not go so far to go that. But here we go visit the co founder. He knows what's wrong with Siri. He created it and he's going to build the next generation of this technology for Samsung. I mean, who's Lando by his phone when the S seven. The note seven have had such a problem. I mean, the essay. They could put it on the market. But this is just going to be a feature if this a I just good enough to make people's lives easier and more convenient than it's gonna sell like hotcakes. Well, look, we're out of time, all right? Come to fortune dot com for more tech debate.