- New data suggests that most iPhone and Galaxy users find AI adding little or no value to their experience
- More than 2,000 smartphone users were examined by used telephone market Sellcell
- Data suggests that users just aren’t interested in AI features
It is likely that if you own a smartphone, it has been updated to include some form of artificial intelligence within the last 12 months – that is if it was not sent with some kind of AI out of the box.
But with all the humming around Apple Intelligence, Galaxy Ai and Google Gemini who come to the best phones, it’s important to take a moment to ask if any of us are actually using AI – fortunately a new study has clear the exact question.
A survey of more than 2,000 smartphone users of used smartphone market space Sellcell found that 73% of iPhone users and as much as 87% of Samsung Galaxy users felt that AI adds only any or no value to their smartphone experience.
SellCell only researched users with an AI-enabled phone-it is an iPhone 15-Pro or later or a Galaxy S22 or newer. The study does not provide an exact sample size, but more than 1,000 iPhone users and more than 1,000 Galaxy users were involved.
Additional findings show that most users of both platforms would not pay for an AI subscription: 86.5% of iPhone users and 94.5% of Galaxy users would refuse to pay for continued access to AI features.
This is especially relevant for Galaxy users as all Galaxy S25 phones come with six months of Gemini Advanced FREE -it doesn’t seem like many will choose to renew this subscription. Apple has not yet announced any plans to make money on Apple Intelligence.
The study also found that AI is playing a small role in compelling users to change platform: 16.8% of the iPhone users surveyed would switch to Galaxy for better AI features, while only 9.7% of Galaxy users would make the inverse switch.
However, almost half of iPhone users consider AI as an important factor in buying a new phone where 47.6% say they are considering AI when it’s time to make a purchase compared to 23.7% of Samsung users.
IPhone users are also generally proud of Apple Intelligence than their Samsung-performing friends, with 15.4%saying Apple Intelligence is better than Galaxy AI. Conversely, only 7.8% of Galaxy users stepped up to say that Galaxy AI is better than Apple Intelligence.
My analysis – don’t people just care?
From the data stated so far, it seems that people just don’t use AI. In the case of both iPhone and Galaxy users about two-fifths of those surveyed have tried AI features-41.6% for iPhone and 46.9% for Galaxy.
So it is a majority of users who don’t even bother with AI in the first place and a general disinterest in AI features from the user base in general, despite the fact that both Apple and Samsung make such a big deal out of AI.
But why is it? The study suggests that the majority of iPhone users simply have not updated to iOS 18.1 to access Apple Intelligence, while Galaxy users are most likely just not interested in available features. Just under one -fifth of iPhone users and just less than two -fifths of Galaxy users also felt that AI was too inaccurate to use.
I have some theories about what could run this apathy. The first centers on ethical concerns around AI. It’s no secret that AI is an environmental disaster in motion, consumes huge amounts of water and emits huge levels of CO2, so greener people can choose to miss it.
There is also the question of AI and human creativity – Techradar’s editorial associated Rowan Davies recently wrote about a beginning “cultural genocide” as a result of generative AI, which I think is a compelling reason to avoid it.
It may also be that everyday consumers have set up because of the long-lasting, messy software rolls of Apple Intelligence and a UI 7-self as a full-time tech journalist, I’ve found both difficult to follow at times.
In the end, though, I think AI just isn’t interesting to the daily person. Even as someone who makes a career of being excited about phones, I have not yet seen an AI feature advertised that does not look like a task to use or an overbearing generative tool. I do not use any AI features day to day and as such I do not expect much more excitement from the public.
In any case, I will be looking for Apple and Samsung to trigger this interest with high quality, useful, ethical AI add-ons in the future. If you are already ready to jump in, remember to check out our list of the best AI phones and let us know what you are doing from mobile AI in the comments below.
