Artificial intelligence it’s a reality

LIFE IS CHANGING, AND AI IS TAKING OVER FAST. YOUNGSTERS TAKE IT FOR GRANTED, TRAVELLERS ARE APPRECIATING THE NEW DOORS IT IS OPENING, MUSIC LOVERS ARE GETTING THE SOUNDS THEY WANT. CUSTOMISATION... THAT’S WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT TODAY

Words: CHRIS PARTRIDGE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is in all the news right now, but few realise just how it has already transformed our lives. Even the humble smartphone is now an AI platform.

Take music streaming giant Spotify, for example, which has launched a personal DJ called Xavier (or X for short) who plays your sort of music, with occasional comments with information on the track and a bit of chat. According to Spotify, X is ‘more like a music-loving friend giving you little bits of additional information between tracks, rather than a full on DJ.’

The really clever part is that X chooses the music based on your recent Spotify plays, fleshes the choices out with similar music and visiting what you were listening to in the past to revive old enthusiasms. It is really slick and X himself does not sound at all robotic (the voice is based on Spotify’s real life Head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier Jernigan).

Spotify DJ has taken off like a rocket, especially with Gen Z and the Millenials, all thanks to the power of AI. Which is suddenly popping up in smartphone and tablet apps all over the place, from personalisation, photo enhancement and voice assistants to enhanced security systems.

Spotify DJ epitomises the way AI-powered mobile apps are enabling highly personalised user experiences. With advanced algorithms analysing vast amounts of user data, apps can understand user preferences, behaviours and patterns. This enables apps to deliver tailored content, recommendations and notifications. Social media platforms are beginning to use AI to create customised news feeds, displaying content that aligns with users’ interests. AI also powers voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant, providing personalised recommendations, reminders, and voice-controlled app interactions. Through AI-driven personalisation, mobile apps are becoming intuitive, anticipating your needs in a sometimes rather discombobulating way.

So where are you going?

AI is also behind Google’s latest upgrade to Google Maps - Immersive View. AI takes the maps and all the Street View images to create a 3D image of an area, so you can really see what is going on when you plan a visit. It also incorporates all the information you need, including such things as the traffic conditions, the weather forecast and air quality.

And Google is making Immersive View available to other app developers so soon it will be in all sorts of unexpected but useful apps. A property rental agent in the US is already developing an app that will enable clients to examine the area round a property they are interested in, to look at everything from local bars and coffee shops to info about taxes and even crime rates. London will be covered in the initial phase and it will eventually cover metropolises around the world.

An area that has been using AI in a major way for some time is photography. Algorithms improve image processing, enabling devices to capture stunning photos with enhanced clarity, colour accuracy and dynamic range. Features like scene recognition and object detection allow apps to automatically optimise settings for different scenarios, such as landscapes, portraits, or food photography. AI-powered apps also offer intelligent editing tools that automatically enhance images, remove unwanted elements, or apply artistic effects. Furthermore, AI-driven computational photography techniques, like Google’s Night Sight or Apple’s Deep Fusion, deliver impressive low-light photography capabilities. With AI, mobile apps empower users to capture professional-grade photographs effortlessly, making every user a skilled photographer.

AI is behind one of my favourite apps, Google Lens, which enables you to identify almost anything simply by taking a photo of it. Its most impressive achievement for me was to scan a Latin inscription carved in stone on Arundel bridge and translate it into English. In microseconds.

What did you say?

AI is also the driver in voice recognition and generation, essential for digital assistants such as Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri and Cortana. Nowadays you can just talk and it will do your bidding. They are becoming more intelligent and versatile, enabling users to perform tasks, gather information and control their devices just by speech, answering questions, providing weather updates, scheduling appointments, sending messages, and even making phone calls on behalf of the user (okay, that one has high creepiness potential).

AI is also making us suffer by strengthening security measures in mobile apps, protecting user data and combating fraud. AI algorithms can analyse user behaviour patterns and identify anomalous activities, detecting potential security threats such as unauthorised access or account takeovers. Facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, powered by AI, provide secure authentication methods for unlocking devices and accessing apps. AIbased fraud detection systems can also recognise phishing attempts and provide real-time warnings to users. By leveraging AI’s ability to process vast amounts of data quickly, mobile apps are becoming safer and more resilient against security breaches, ensuring user privacy and data protection.

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Elizabeth Hurley

Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley first hit the headlines back in 1994 when she appeared with her then-boyfriend Hugh Grant at the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral wearing a Versace dress split to the thigh and held together with gold safety pins. Since then, the Hampshire-born star has rarely been out of the newspapers. The ‘face’ of the Estee Lauder cosmetics company since 1995, she has come a long way since she was a teenage punk in Basingstoke with pink hair and a nose stud. The daughter of an Army captain, she studied theatre and dance after school. TV and film work followed, with Elizabeth starring as writer Christabel Bielenberg in Christabel on TV in 1988 and appearing in Austin Powers, Man of Mystery in 1997. She appeared on the cover of Vogue three times and developed her own beachwear line but was as well-known for her romances as for her career. She and Hugh Grant split up after 13 years but remain good friends – he is godfather to her son Damien, whose father is American businessman Steve Bing. She later married Arun Nayar, and after their divorce was engaged to Australian cricketer Shane Warne. She was devastated by his sudden death in 2022, saying: “... the sun has gone behind a cloud forever.” A supporter of breast cancer charities and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, she keeps fit by gardening and walking her dogs. Her latest film project is an erotic thriller Strictly Confidential directed by her son.