Science fiction tells us one day we’ll talk to our phones and computers like they’re people, as suggested in movies like Her and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But we’re now facing a different reality: Our digital lives aren’t managed by one entity, but rather a collection of AIs that gather information about how we type, what kind of media we like to see, and what we should be doing throughout the day.
Right now, a lot of these algorithms require too much computing power to run on phones and other smart devices—that’s part of the reason why the cloud has been so revolutionary. But a coming wave of advances in AI research and deployment will bring algorithms that require far less compute power, meaning we can carry them around on our smartphones, smartwatches, and smart belts, without sending personal information like texts back to the servers of Facebook and Google. This technology could allow a fresh start for privacy within messaging apps, especially now that users are beginning to understand the importance of end-to-end encryption on their personal messages.