Uh oh, up to 87% of smartphone users don't like AI features

Apple has finally entered the AI race with the rollout of Apple Intelligence across its range of products, but it still feels far too late in the game now for the tech giant to even attempt to catch up with Samsung's impressive Galaxy AI features. Two of the best camera phones on the market right now, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max all make use of AI – but according to new survey research, it doesn't even matter.

A brand new study by a company called Sellcell has found that 73% of iPhone users and 87% of Samsung users surveyed agree that AI features add little or no value to improving their daily lives. According to Sellcell, smartphone users are generally unsatisfied with AI features, although iPhone users showed higher interest in mobile AI than Samsung users, with 47.6% of them agreeing It’s a key factor for them in deciding on a new phone.

It's surprising to me as an owner of the Samsung S24 Ultra that a higher percentage of Samsung users compared with Apple consumers found AI to be unsatisfying, given that I personally use and benefit from Galaxy AI features in a lot of ways including Note Assist, Circle to Search, and transcribing, but that could boil down to my occupation as a tech journalist more than anything else.

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Interestingly, the poll also found that 16.8% of iPhone users (1 in 6) would consider switching to Samsung as their smartphone of choice for the promise of better AI features, compared to only 9.7% of Samsung users stating that they would be willing to move to Apple. It seems that even the best iPhones for photography aren't enticing enough for Samsung fans, or perhaps not powerful enough to keep Apple users loyal anymore.

When thinking about AI as profitable, I also found it interesting that most of the smartphone users surveyed (86.5% of iPhone AI users and 94.5% of Samsung users) said they would not pay to use AI, and that specifically Apple users (11.6%) are more likely than Samsung users (4%) to pay for a subscription to use AI features. The survey also uncovered that a large reason for smartphone users not using AI was down to not having the latest software installed (57.6%) as well as not finding the features useful (36.7%) and not trusting AI or its accuracy (18.2%).

So what's the verdict? Is AI a big deal to consumers or not? With Apple having only just begun rolling out Apple Intelligence, it's still pretty early days for iPhone users to pass judgment on the benefits of AI, but this data implies it's not looking great. As for Samsung owners, we've had the larger part of a year to get acquainted with AI, and I can only speak for myself in saying that I love the Galaxy AI ecosystem and its ability to boost productivity, but I can appreciate how it's not useful for everyone.

I have a theory that most smartphone users might not be aware of what their device is really capable of when it comes to AI, and that more education around AI and its benefits might be the key for 2025. SellCell's survey found that 46.7% of iPhone users did not know enough about AI to draw a comparison when asked how Apple Intelligence compares to Galaxy AI.

If anything, this survey (which involved over 2,000 smartphone users) highlights that AI hasn't been as influential as it seems, and perhaps smartphone manufacturers need to up their game and do better at making AI more than just a gimmick in the eye of the general public.