Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage these days, with every manufacturer racing to put as many AI features on their phones as possible. But what AI features do you really need on your smartphone to speed up your workflow or make your life easier and not just be a gimmick?

1. Generative photo editing

Generative photo editing is one of the top ways most manufacturers showcase their AI prowess. While you might think this feature is a gimmick, it can be useful in many ways.

Using Generative AI, you can remove unwanted objects from images with just a few taps from your smartphone. You no longer need to be a Photoshop expert to do this. You can also use this feature to move objects in the photo or even expand the photo frame.

2. Quick summary of PDFs and documents

Current AI models are capable of analyzing documents, making them ideal for quickly summarizing long emails, complex documents, and PDFs. This AI feature is especially useful on smartphones, where it can be difficult to look through long PDFs and documents.

People often use Gemini and ChatGPT on their Android phones to summarize legal documents, asking them to highlight oddities or unfair terms and conditions. If you have to go through a lot of documents in your daily life, using AI can significantly speed up your workflow.

3. Real-time call translation

One of the best AI-powered features that you really need on your smartphone is real-time call translation.

The best part is the real-time call translation feature that works seamlessly with regular phone calls and VoIP calls made via apps like WhatsApp, Teams, etc. If you travel often abroad, this feature can be extremely useful. Live translation is one of the Galaxy’s best AI features and a great example of how AI can help you in your everyday life.

4. Prioritize notifications and emails

One AI feature you really need on your smartphone is prioritizing important emails and notifications. On iPhone, the Mail app automatically categorizes and puts important emails first. This AI-powered feature can make managing a busy inbox a lot easier, especially when you’re on the go.

Likewise, Reduce Interruptions Focus mode powered by Apple Intelligence on iPhone and Mac can help you work in peace, reminding you only of notifications that need your immediate attention. With the barrage of notifications we receive every day from various apps, this is a great way for AI to help restore sanity.

5. Writing assistant

AI is very good at understanding and processing natural language. This makes it possible for AI to quickly organize your email drafts, work documents, or college notes. This is especially useful on phones, where typing long emails or documents can be difficult.

On iPhone, Apple Intelligence’s Writing Assist feature makes it easy to compose an email or change the tone of an existing document. On Android, you can use the Gemini app or ChatGPT to achieve the same results.

6. More conversational voice assistants

ChatGPT and Gemini Live’s Voice mode allows you to chat naturally with AI-powered chatbots. These AI features are great on phones because you can use them to research ideas, gather information about new topics, etc.

AI allows Google Gemini and Siri to understand natural human conversations better. So you can talk to them as if you were talking to a friend and they will still understand everything.

7. Natural language search

Since AI is very good at understanding human language, it enables natural language search support. On iPhone, you can use natural language search in iOS 18.1’s Photos app to find photos and videos. iOS 18.2 will expand natural language support to Apple Music and Apple TV apps.

Natural language support shows that AI can be used for more than just gimmicky features to improve the day-to-day experience of using a smartphone.

8. Create images

In addition to editing images, you can use AI on your smartphone to quickly create custom images or emojis. Google offers this feature through the Pixel Studio app on the new Pixel phones, while on iPhone you need to use the Image Playground or Genmoji apps.

AI-powered image generation is an interesting feature. It may not improve or change the way you use your smartphone. In fact, you might not even remember it if this feature is lost. However, every once in a while, it can add a little creativity and spice to your conversations.

Despite all the exciting features, it is still very early to integrate AI into smartphones. As AI models become more efficient and powerful, they will pave the way for even more amazing and useful features on smartphones.