How the Latest AI Trends are Shaping Consumer Devices

AI is no longer a premium feature, it’s now a baseline capability. In the coming years, we may stop using the word “smart” when we’re referring to smartphones, smart TVs, smart speakers, etc. since built-in intelligence is the standard. Devices will compete against each other based on their level of AI performance, how much information they can process at the edge, and what kinds of cool generative AI and agentic AI applications they can support.

I recently chatted with Patrick Moorhead and Daniel Newman on the Six Five Podcast to share some of my thoughts on how AI is impacting the consumer device landscape. Below are a few key takeaways from the conversation.

Cloud vs. Edge AI

Many generative AI and agentic AI applications will be processed in the cloud, where large-scale infrastructure allows for bigger models, better performance, and higher-quality outputs. But there are still many use cases where running AI workloads at the edge makes sense thanks to reduced latency, increased privacy, and lower cloud compute costs. 

Take the smart home, for example. If you have multiple security cameras running 24/7, uploading all that 4K video to the cloud becomes expensive and can also raise privacy concerns. Local AI inferencing makes it possible to detect objects, flag relevant events (like your dog escaping out the side door), and proactively send alerts without sending all that data to the cloud first. 

There’s also a growing demand for edge AI processing on Chromebooks, tablets, and smartphones. Local processing allows these applications to run faster and remain accessible even without an internet connection.

Ultimately, it comes down to the application, the user experience, and the level of real-time responsiveness required so we’ll continue to see many devices take a hybrid computing approach. 

AI and the Smart Home

AI is driving the next wave of growth within the smart home segment and is elevating user experiences. A lot of this innovation is being driven by improvements with voice assistants. SQ Magazine reported that 68% of U.S. consumers’ smart home interactions are initiated by voice assistants. As voice assistants have become more conversational and can understand more complicated requests, they are turning into our personal assistants. Additionally, these devices are getting better at anticipating your needs and automatically adapting to your preferences. 

However, usability and interoperability challenges remain. Consumers rarely upgrade all of their smart home devices at once, yet they need them all to work together seamlessly. AI can help ensure that devices seamlessly connect and help to fix issues in real-time. 

This could lead to a resurgence of hubs, where a local smart display or device acts as the AI brain of the home, connecting all your sensors, cameras, and controls in one place. That way you don’t need to replace or upgrade devices as often to enjoy a fully intelligent home. 

Future AI Investments

MediaTek is already powering next-gen AI capabilities in smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, and smart home devices. We’re also bringing powerful AI experiences to autonomous vehicles, cloud infrastructure, and premium compute devices. We’re focused on making that intelligence faster, more efficient, and more accessible.