Samsung's AI Composer Can Write Thank You Notes, and That Has Me Worried

What does it mean to be human? Philosophers have long pointed to our ability to reason as a defining characteristic.

And while some researchers say AI has started to show signs of human reasoning, this is by no means a foregone conclusion. At least not yet.

I'm no Aristotle or Miguel Benasayag, but I've covered technology for 20-some-odd years and I would argue that emotion is a key distinguisher between us and machines, as is our ability to -- for lack of a better way of putting it -- experience things. And by that I mean going out into the world to explore, interact, learn and remember… without AI-abetting context windows.

Technology has made it easier for us to express our feelings via text, email and social media and to facilitate experiences through online platforms. And in watching Google, Apple and Samsung outline their AI agendas over the last few months, I'm struck by the new ways they're changing the relationship we have with technology. 

We're seeing AI-enabled tech assume more tasks for us, like reading and responding to emails and updating calendars. It's offloading mundane tasks like this where AI arguably offers the most promise. But as AI does more and more for us, at what point do we see that start to change what makes us human?

Thanks, Samsung Composer

In her presentation from the Louvre on Wednesday at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event, Annika Bizon, marketing and omnichannel director of Samsung Electronics UK/Ireland, called this "a new era of productivity and creativity" in which devices like the Galaxy Ring and Galaxy Z Flip 6 enable AI-powered self-expression.

After hearing from Jenny Blackburn, a vice president of user experience at Google, about how technology from both companies can help you plan a watch party for breakdancing's debut at the 2024 Olympics, Bizon called on Samsung's new generative AI tool, Composer, to write her a thank you note.

Composer, which can also create text for social media posts, assembled a perfectly reasonable email based on Bizon's prompt.

"I couldn't have put it better myself," she said.

But is the point of sending a thank you note simply to check it off your list? Of course not. It's meant to convey the human emotion of gratitude.

I know not everyone is comfortable with writing, so tools like this can be helpful. And Samsung certainly isn't arguing we stop telling family, friends and colleagues how we feel altogether.

But as etiquette guide The Emily Post Institute puts it in its primer on thank you notes, "There is simply nothing as personal as a handwritten note. In a stack of bills and flyers, it's a treasure in a sealed packet, full of promise and potential."

It's also an opportunity to connect with another human being -- and I'd argue that's true even if your letter of thanks comes in email form. The point is you tap into your humanity to express some kind of genuine emotion, even in a business context. And if we start to rely on generative AI tools like Composer or OpenAI's ChatGPT to express our feelings, it's like we start to lose some of what makes us human.

Bonjour, Live Translate

Machines definitely have an edge over us when it comes to languages. ChatGPT can converse in 60 languages. Google's Gemini knows 35. Anthropic's Claude can speak 12.

According to the US Census Bureau, 241 million people in the US spoke only English at home as of 2019. With a population of about 330 million people, that's 72% of the country.

And so these language translation capabilities, which also include the Live Translate feature on devices like the Galaxy Z Flip 6, provide an opportunity for those English-only speakers to connect with the 28% of people in the US who speak another language at home -- or with anyone they might encounter in traveling overseas.

Not long ago, I was stuck behind a man in a car who didn't know he could open the gate in front of us simply by driving closer. But we didn't speak the same language and so I had to mime it. Live Translate's real-time voice translations would have come in handy then without months of language lessons for either one of us.

But the point of learning a new language isn't just communication.

In addition to helping you connect to new people and cultures, research shows learning a new language helps boost your memory, communication skills and creativity.

And so while generative AI tools and features like Live Translate will certainly be helpful in certain contexts, I hope they don't dull our propensity to explore, interact and learn. After all, that's part of what makes us human -- and, without it, who are we?