[Editorial] AI Doesn’t Need to Outthink You. It Needs to Understand You

By TM Roh, CEO, President, Samsung Electronics

History repeats a pattern. The breakthroughs that change everything are rarely the most powerful inventions. They are the moments those inventions reach into daily life. Electricity changed society not with power plants, but when a switch appeared in homes. The internet became ours through the browser. The phone became powerful through the ecosystem of apps that grew on top of it.

AI will be no different.

Where AI Meets People

AI is getting smarter faster, and this will continue. But to change how people live, it must answer: where, how and into whose hands does this intelligence reach? This will define AI’s next chapter.

AI no longer merely answers. It is entering an agentic age, taking action on our behalf while the person carries the final decision. But to act for someone, it must first know them.

That is why it matters where AI meets people. The entry points are where AI understands a person and builds trust. The best AI experiences will come from the devices that know the user best.

This is what Samsung has spent years building. The phone is closest to us, with us daily. The tablet is where we create and learn. The watch reads signals like sleep and heart rate. The TV and connected home appliances add context from where we live. And new form factors, from foldables to intelligent eyewear, expand where AI meets us. Together, a fuller picture of a person’s needs forms.

These entry points are powerful together. Signals from across devices become timely assistance: sleep tracked by your watch shapes tomorrow’s schedule, with information always available. AI at its best works quietly in the background, bringing these moments into a cohesive experience. That is why we have spent years building an ecosystem not just to reach, but to connect more moments.

Built on Openness and Trust

Samsung does not do this alone. The platforms that changed the world were the most open. The web was. So were mobile operating systems. With SmartThings, we brought devices, services and partners into one connected experience, shaping industry open standards. Openness lets the best ideas reach people faster. And we don’t simply layer intelligence on top, but design how AI works at the center so it serves each person in context.

But openness alone is not the goal. The harder task is turning intelligence into something personal and trustworthy. The best intelligence in the world should reach people through their everyday devices. But what makes it personal is understanding the user and keeping that understanding safe. That is our responsibility.

As AI becomes more personal and agentic, trust becomes the foundation. People need to know what AI is doing for them and remain in control.

This is why trust isn’t added at the end. Samsung Knox protects each Galaxy device and now the connections between them. As intelligence moves across devices, protecting what flows between them is crucial. The most personal data stays on the device so people can understand how AI is working and remain in control.

The Next Chapter of Galaxy

That same understanding shapes the devices we build. The more personal and capable AI becomes, the more form matters. As AI helps us with more at once, a screen that flexes and folds expands what is possible. This is what makes foldables special: they fold into your hand or open a larger stage. On this journey, Samsung has continued to make foldables thinner, lighter, stronger and more immersive.

AI is also essential in health. How we sleep, recover and look after ourselves—daily choices add up. A device close to us, like a watch, tracks these signals ensuring a better day.

The upcoming Galaxy Unpacked is where we will show what’s next in bringing all this together: more personal, natural AI experiences on a foundation more partners can build on. The question that opens the next era is not who has the smartest AI, but who understands people best, and turns that understanding into experiences they can trust.

We intend to take this path with openness and responsibility, beginning with the device already in your hand. We open this next chapter together at Galaxy Unpacked.

On July 22, Samsung will host Galaxy Unpacked in London, U.K. Join us as we unveil the next chapter of Galaxy innovation.

The event will be streamed live on Samsung.com, Samsung Newsroom and Samsung’s YouTube channel beginning at 2 p.m. BST, 9 a.m. ET and 3 p.m. CEST.