Smartphones will disappear in five years, says survey

According to CNBC, a new consumer survey shows that smartphones may be obsolete within five years. Swedish company Ericsson surveyed 100,000 consumers in 40 countries, and half of them believed that "smartphones will become history, and this will happen within five years." Smartphones will be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI), which will "enable people to interact with objects without a smartphone screen."

Ericsson said the "conflicting demands" of people wanting bigger devices, which makes the screens more power-hungry, while also wanting longer battery life, required a better solution.

AI has the potential to do this, and 85% of respondents believe that wearable electronic assistants will also become more popular. Half of respondents believe that they will be able to talk to home appliances in the future, just like communicating with people.

"Smartphone users believe AI will take over many common activities, such as searching the web, getting travel guides and acting as a personal assistant," the Ericsson report said.

There are already some AI products on the market, such as Amazon's voice-controlled smart speaker Echo. People can talk to this device and get information from it. In addition, Google Now, Microsoft Cortana and Apple Siri are all digital personal assistants that work through AI.

Ericsson's report shows that nearly half of the respondents (44%) believe that AI systems can serve as a good teacher, one-third of people hope to have AI devices to accompany them, and 29% feel that they will be more comfortable discussing their condition with AI systems than communicating with doctors.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.