If you have ever used Apple’s Siri, or Google Assistant, and found that the experience left a bit to be desired, then you will be glad to hear that machine learning is increasingly looking to be the future of mobile. If you’re unfamiliar with machine learning, simply think of it as another term for artificial intelligence. It’s going to make your smartphone even smarter.
Manufacturers like Qualcomm are now designing and building mobile processors with machine learning built in. As one might expect, the advancements being made in this area could revolutionize your mobile experience. If that all sounds a bit vague, let us be a bit more specific! With machine learning, you could soon enjoy all of the benefits below, and more.
With machine learning your phone can learn what sounds are important – and which aren’t. This can help cut out background clutter and unwanted ambient sounds, allowing both parties to hear more clearly (to say nothing of improving your user experience). Of course, your smartphone can’t cut out the noise around you – if you’re taking your call in a loud coffee shop, you’ll still likely struggle to hear what the other person is saying. However, it can minimize the noise that gets picked up by your phone’s microphone, so that it transmits only the important data. This is only possible with machine learning, as it requires a machine that is capable of recognizing its environment and acting accordingly.
Faster, More Accurate Translations
There are already translation apps available for your smartphone (Google Translate being a popular one). However, anyone who has used a translation tool likely knows that the results aren’t always as promised. And this is because so much of language is based on context. Furthermore, not all languages use the same grammatical structures and rules, so strictly translating content word-for-word can still leave you in the dark as to the translated text’s meaning. With machine learning, translations can become both quicker and more accurate. A “smarter” smartphone that can think for itself and learn on the fly can better parse the nuances of language to provide more helpful translations.
Longer Battery Life
One practical benefit of machine learning is better energy efficiency. This may seem counterintuitive, as you would think that a more powerful processor would require more power, but with machine learning, your device can learn to run more efficiently all on its own. Just as in smart thermostats like the popular Nest, a smartphone with machine learning can learn your user patterns over time and adapt accordingly, closing apps and minimizing processing power for those that are used less frequently. As far as you’re concerned, nothing will have changed, except you will find that your battery lasts longer and longer – and that’s a good thing!
More Helpful Fitness Insights
Imagine a device that does more than merely track your steps or monitor your heartbeat. Imagine a device that actually understands your personal fitness needs and goals, and works to help you achieve them. And not through some pre-determined exercise routine or one that you program yourself, but based on actual data. Machine learning makes this a possibility and could revolutionize your fitness routine. In fact, machine learning has already been used as a health aid; researchers at Osaka University used smartphones and machine learning to study sleep patterns in order to provide better treatment.
Smoother Automation and Prediction
Today’s personal assistants, like Siri and Google Assistant (not to mention features like autocorrect), clearly illustrate the limits of current AI technology. Though good, they’re far from great, and show that there’s much room for improvement. Thankfully, machine learning will make the personal assistants of tomorrow smarter and more helpful than ever. How? Because artificial intelligence is at the very heart of automation and prediction.
A machine must have some understanding of context and motive before it can hope to truly predict what it is you might be trying to accomplish – otherwise, it’s doing nothing more than selecting from a set number of potential outcomes, pre-programmed and potentially all wrong. Machine learning enables predictive modeling based on actual user behavior, which could transform your phone into a companion rather than a mere tool.
Putting the “Smart” in Smartphone
The future of mobile isn’t a larger screen, faster speeds (thought that’s always welcome), or even a 5G network – it’s machine learning. That is what will separate tomorrow’s smartphones from today’s. Siri and Google Assistant are novel ideas, but without the computing power behind them to make them truly effective, they are nothing more than that – novelties. With machine learning, our mobile devices and smartphones can truly reach their potential, and in the process, become the everyday tools and aids we’ve always wanted.