According to CEO Carl Pei, AI agents are set to take the place of your applications in the near future.

      Carl Pei believes your smartphone is lagging behind, and AI can provide the solution.

      Nothing CEO Carl Pei asserts that today's smartphones are hardly different from the Palm Pilots and PDAs we utilized two decades ago. The experience remains unchanged with lock screens, home screens, app stores, and full-screen applications.

      Pei points out that the industry has seen little evolution over the past 20 years, and he is convinced that AI holds the key to advancement. Speaking at SXSW, Pei made a striking prediction that apps would eventually become obsolete. While not imminent, he warns that the trend is evident and founders need to take note.

      Will your apps become outdated in the future?

      Pei's argument begins with a straightforward illustration. For instance, if you want to meet a friend for coffee, the task entails using a messaging app, Maps, Uber, and your calendar. That's four applications and several steps just to get one cup of coffee. “It’s very hard to get things done on a phone,” he remarked at SXSW.

      His vision for the future is a device that bypasses these complexities. He describes the ideal smartphone with, “I know you very well, and if I know your intention, I just do it for you.”

      So, what does Carl Pei perceive as the future?

      Pei outlines the evolution of AI in stages. The first stage involves AI executing tasks on your behalf, such as booking a flight or a hotel, much like what Google and Samsung are attempting with their smartphones through Gemini integration. He dubbed this stage “super boring."

      The next stage becomes more captivating. This is where AI understands your long-term aspirations and guides you toward them over time, resembling a proactive life assistant instead of simply reacting to requests. The most advanced stage is when the system proposes ideas you may not have even considered. “When the system knows us so well, it will come up with things that we didn’t even know we wanted,” Pei elaborated.

      For this vision to materialize, the interface also needs to evolve. Pei is adamant that AI agents shouldn’t be navigating through menus like robots mimicking humans. “You need to create an interface for the agent to use,” he stated.

      He anticipates that voice will become the primary method of input, while the screen will continue to serve as the main output. “The interface that I truly believe in is voice-in, because speaking is the easiest way to provide input. And not audio out; it’s still a screen out. I think that’s the most efficient user interface.”

      I resonate with many of Carl Pei’s ideas, but I remain convinced that a genuinely helpful AI assistant is still several years away. Companies like Rabbit, Humane, and even Apple have struggled to develop an effective AI assistant. Hopefully, an innovative company like Nothing can find the solution.

      Rachit is an experienced tech journalist with more than seven years of expertise covering the consumer technology sector.

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