CPU or server farm

AI devices: Where does your private data really end up?

This is how an AI image generator imagines an AI smartphone. However, the image that artificial intelligence is built into the cell phone is misleading. Many things only work if data is sent to the cloud for processing.(Bild: stock.adobe.com – KI-generiert)

When you buy a smartphone or laptop, you're also buying artificial intelligence - that's the marketing promise behind high-end devices from Google, Microsoft and Samsung. But the AI magic doesn't always happen on the device - sometimes private data ends up in the data center without being asked.

Technology companies believe that artificial intelligence boosts sales. The Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has therefore worked with hardware partners to develop "Copilot+" certified laptops with CPUs that enable all kinds of AI gadgets. And smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and Google are promoting AI tricks that their devices can master in areas such as speech recognition, text generation and image optimization. The fact that users' personal data is screened and sometimes ends up in data centers is not communicated so openly. "The customer doesn't care where AI calculations take place," said Samsung's AI chief engineer. But is that really true?