Imagine a world where your devices understand you as well as your closest friends do. This is the promise of on-device AI, a technology that is set to revolutionize our daily lives in ways we are only beginning to comprehend.
Our journey with technology has been marked by several transformative moments. We started with command lines, moved to graphical interfaces, and then to touchscreens. Each step made our interactions more intuitive and natural. The rise of Generative AI (Gen AI) represents now another such pivotal moment, poised to reshape not only our relationship with technology, but how we live and work.
Until now, Gen AI has largely been powered by the cloud and this cloud-centric model offers undeniable advantages. In parallel, recent advances in semiconductor technology are now changing the game, by enabling smartphones, wearables, PCs and tablets to run large language models (LLMs) locally on-device, enhancing personalisation, security, privacy, as well as improving cost and efficiency.
This shift towards on-device AI is set to redefine how we interact with our devices. This creates a whole new technology experience, moving beyond traditional operating systems and app stores. On-device AI agents will also understand context, personalize interactions, and seamlessly coordinate across different devices and services, all while keeping your sensitive data secure on your device. For example, to plan a dinner with friends, users currently rely on several apps, such as messaging, calendar, mapping services and restaurant reservations. With an on-device AI agent, a user can simply express their intent to have dinner at a specific place and time and the AI system will coordinate across different platforms to invite friends and family, block calendars and make restaurant reservation.
Embracing edge AI offers Europe a path to a more inclusive and sustainable tech future, one that drives innovation, strengthens business competitiveness, safeguards user privacy and reduces AI’s environmental impact
On-device AI is not just a change for consumers; it holds immense potential for European businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who could unlock unprecedented gains in efficiency and customer experiences. For instance, in factories, AI can manage inventory, automate supply orders, and prevent costly production delays. A family-owned furniture store could use AI agents to provide instant, multilingual customer support, answering complex design inquiries and offering personalized configurations at any time of the day
This transformative technology is key to achieving the EU's Digital Decade goals. As mentioned in the Draghi report, we are at the cusp of another digital revolution where AI will revolutionize European industries and be crucial for European companies’ ability to remain leaders in their sector.
For Europe to maintain its competitiveness in the global tech race, developers need to be able to choose and access Gen AI models tailored to the diverse needs of European users. This includes training LLMs in all European languages and dialects, ensuring an inclusive edge AI revolution that protects Europe’s rich cultural and linguistic heritage. The Qualcomm AI Hub is playing a vital role in this respect by enabling developers to choose and access models optimized to run on-device. In many ways, we see it as helping democratise access to powerful open-source models by levelling the playing field for smaller European companies and startups, nurturing a more competitive and innovative AI landscape.
The next chapter of the AI revolution will be written not just in the cloud, but on the billions of devices in the hands of European citizens and businesses. Embracing edge AI offers Europe a path to a more inclusive and sustainable tech future, one that drives innovation, strengthens business competitiveness, safeguards user privacy and reduces AI’s environmental impact. The future of computing is not just about connecting AI to the cloud, it is about bringing the power of AI closer to the people. This revolution is starting now.