Digital jewelry: will smart brooches, projectors and chips under the skin replace smartphones?

Sam Altman, head of OpenAI and creator of ChatGPT, has announced a new technology based on artificial intelligence that will replace smartphones. Among the possible options are next-generation neurointerfaces, augmented reality projectors and wrist computers sewn under the skin. "Izvestia" collected the forecasts of technology experts who assessed the prospects for the reality of creating such devices.

What technologies can replace smartphones

The head of OpenAI Sam Altman said that he plans to develop a new AI-based gadget in partnership with several companies. He hinted that the device that will replace smartphones may be focused on voice interaction. Experts polled by Izvestia are confident that the symbiosis of smartphones and AI in the form of biochips could well become the next bigtech breakthrough.

- Apple, Google, Samsung and most Chinese manufacturers are building a lot of neural network functions into their new devices. Chatbots will be able to replace the usual queries to Google and simplify "communication" with gadgets. But it is unlikely that touch screens and manual control will be completely abandoned in the next decade," says Nikita Boguslavsky, editor-in-chief of T-Zh.

First of all, people may be interested in compact lightweight AR-glasses with high-quality displays, voice or contactless control, AI and smartphone functionality, as well as good autonomy, believes the editor-in-chief of Ferra.ru Evgeny Kharitonov.

- Neural implants may also take over the market. They already exist, but they are as far from the ideal realization as the first button phones with monochrome display from modern smartphones. Now it is rather a digital medical prosthesis, a device of last hope, than a cyber-toy, no matter how Ilon Musk shoots demonstrative videos about paralyzed people playing computer games with the power of thought. And a breakthrough in this area is not even on the horizon today," he said.

Smartphones will be replaced by portable projectors that will broadcast volumetric information on the palm of the hand or other surfaces, says Denis Kuskov, General Director of TelecomDaily. They will be much more compact than existing smartphones. The devices will allow not only to type texts, receive calls and work on the Internet, but also to use advanced AI-solutions, which are already capable of neural networks such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek.

- There is a demand for a fundamental change in the interaction interface between a person and their gadget. Users no longer want to press buttons or poke at the screen with a polka dot. They would like a form of communication with the network through a speech and later a neural interface. This coincides perfectly with the desires of IT companies to collect even more information. This will make it possible to almost completely digitize human life, which is an end in itself for business in the information society and will enormously increase profits from the sale of advertising," Igor Bederov, head of T.Hunter's investigations department, said.

AI assistant and voice control

IT specialist Sergei Pomortsev believes that Altman's technology will be sewn under the skin between the thumb and index finger as a microchip with an AI-assistant and voice control. The expert expects that the gadget will not need to be put on a charger - it will use energy recovery technology, and it will be necessary to remove it only in case of switching to a newer model.

Itis likely that the new OpenAI device will be a compact gadget with generative AI with a complete abandonment of the display in favor of voice control and intuitive interfaces, says Yaroslav Seliverstov, head of AI research at the directorate of design and development of the digital platform of the University 2035. For example, it could be a brooch, pendant or glasses.

It can be assumed that the device accumulates all the capabilities of neural networks from OpenAI. Previously, companies have released prototypes of smartphone replacements, such as gesture-controlled projector devices on the hand, or phones with only calls and a voice assistant. It is quite possible that now there will be a more elaborate gadget - after all, the company plans to attract substantial investment for this, says Anton Averyanov, CEO of ST IT Group, expert of the TechNet NTI market.

- A gadget with uninterrupted communication, which is provided by satellites and all cellular operators under a prepaid subscription, would practically be a revolution. But in such a mode, even smartphones with 7000 mAh will not last even a day. Their replacement with such functionality will either turn out to be the biggest sensation since the first iPhone, or nobody needs a "hybrid of a hedgehog and a hedgehog", - added Evgeny Kharitonov.

- The main focus will be on voice interaction. This in itself raises questions, because such control is convenient for some functions, but will hardly completely replace traditional touch screens. All this looks more like an attempt by OpenAI to once again propagandize and raise money from investors," commented Sergey Trostyansky, Deputy Director of the NTI Competence Center for Big Data at Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Augmented reality goggles and voice-controlled smartphones have already failed, believes Nikolay Kalutsky, a leading specialist of the Federal Tax Service of Russia and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, an expert of the NTI Seifnet market. He sees the prospect of a device with a brain-computer interface as much more realistic. The expert notes that a prototype of such a device would be a step in development, but there are risks that turning off the electricity in this bundle would cause the gadget to stop functioning.