Specification for an AI phone in 2030

From OpenArt

In the “Sentenced to War” military-SF series by Chaney and Brazee, soldiers have a “Battle Buddy” surgically emplaced and wired into their brains on a ‘crystal substrate’. The AI can tap into a soldier's senses (vision, hearing, etc) and process the information independently.

The AI system is knowledge-rich, as if it has graduated from the best military school. It communicates conversationally (through an internal voice) with the soldier and can overlay information on request into the soldier's visual field via stimulation of the visual cortex.

It seems the ideal AI companion - except when the hero begins to suspect that the Battle Buddies come with a covert surveillance backchannel into Military Intelligence.

We can reverse-engineer three major specification-areas from this hypothetical system for the next generation of AI phones.

1. Situational Awareness

The phone needs to know what's going on. Absent the ability to directly tap into the user's senses, this suggests the user will need to wear cameras and microphones which default to always-on. This might be considered spooky by some. Also how are these devices mounted? A headband; glasses? Or does the phone tap into some local part of a future global audio-visual surveillance network currently waiting to be constructed?

2. Interaction modes

Many people seem unwilling to talk aloud to their devices, fearing this can be inappropriate, indiscreet and intrusive. Typing into a screen is low bandwidth and cumbersome. What's a good solution, both for sending to the AI and getting a response (information which might include visual - augmented reality - and audio as well as text)?

3. Where is the real value-added?

Current phones already support countless useful functions, often user-specific. Is the AI phone just more of the same, perhaps a bit streamlined, or does it transition from being a tool-set to becoming an entity with presence and agency: a valet, a concierge, a chaperone, a security guard, or a friend? An automated friend which knows your every intimate secret seems a bit of a security risk?

Summing up, I think the mature AI phone is not an incremental improvement over current phones, although it will certainly incorporate their current capabilities. It will be a system comprising sensors and effectors, multimedia communication with the user and affective and emotional agency as well as abstract cognitive competence; more friend than information and entertainment resource.

I would guess we'll see many trial systems until some design stabilises around 2030.

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Note: I asked Google’s Bard to improve this vision using its intelligence. Its rather lengthy series of drafts mostly told me how good this little essay was, and suggested the use of Musk-style neuralink implants as an additional feature. Hmm…