The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra emphasizes Artificial Intelligence as a prominent feature, as highlighted by Samsung. The Galaxy AI suite includes impressive features, with one exception that stands out as extremely poor, and I am astonished that Samsung chose to release it and even mention it during the launch. I am referring to Chat Assist, a feature that modifies hastily typed messages to suit different situations, such as sending them to your boss. Before delving into the reasons why Chat Assist is so terrible, I urge you to never, under any circumstances, send a message created by the AI that lacks any semblance of charisma to anyone, especially if you aim to sound human. During Samsung's Unpacked 2024 event, where the Galaxy S24 series was unveiled, Samsung showcased two methods of altering the tone of written messages. Firstly, they demonstrated Google's Magic Compose feature, initially introduced at Google I/O in 2023, and then introduced their own Chat Assist as an alternative means to send "expressive texts using AI. " However, Magic Compose is currently exclusive to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, leaving most individuals with no option but to resort to Samsung's Chat Assist. Unfortunately, Chat Assist is part of the lackluster Samsung Keyboard and is available across various messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Messages, Teams, Line, Instagram, and others. It is activated by tapping the sparkly icon above the keyboard and offers three options: Spelling and Grammar, Translate, and Writing Style. The last option is one that you should never choose. The process involves reading your message and generating alternative messages tailored to specific scenarios, like Casual, Polite, and Professional, in an attempt to enhance the conversation, impress with polished prose, or exhibit extensive vocabulary. However, it fails to accomplish any of these objectives and instead gives the recipient the impression that you are a scammer, a bot, or an extraterrestrial attempting to emulate human speech. Regardless of your perceived lack of writing skills, Chat Assist is, unfortunately, of no assistance. In fact, I can't envision anyone benefiting from this preposterous feature. Don't believe me?Well, I may actually be too generous in my assessment. Allow me to provide some examples of Chat Assist's lamentable Writing Style and the effects it has on your messages. Imagine writing a simple, generic message to a friend: "Hey!How was your weekend?I know it rained a bit, but I still did some work in the garden. Want to get coffee later?" This message appears ordinary, but what if you intend to send it to your boss?Fear not, Chat Assist will convert it to a Professional style!Here is the result: "I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to inquire about your availability for a coffee meeting later today. Despite the inclement weather over the weekend, I managed to accomplish some tasks in the garden. Please let me know when you are able to meet. " Regrettably, your recipient will never consider themselves available if this is the message they receive, particularly since you evidently cannot distinguish between an SMS and an email. It brings to mind that episode of Friends when Joey (or should I say Baby Kangaroo Tribbiani) uses a thesaurus to embellish his letter to Chandler and Monica's adoption agency.

"You can pick the word that makes you sound smartest, " Ross advises him, and that's precisely how Chat Assist approaches its professional tone. Chat Assist's professional tone does not achieve the desired effect of making people believe you are human rather than an impersonal pod person. However, what about a casual tone?Chat Assist offers various options for less formal messages, including those that incorporate emojis and hashtags to mimic the style of a 12-year-old. Yet, even its basic Casual tone falls short. Suppose you have no personality, and the best you can muster for a friendly message is: "I have been busy with work this week. I would like to do something over the weekend if you're available?" Will Chat Assist rescue your writing and make you appear fun?Let's examine its response. Alternatively, for the same message, Chat Assist's Social option is: "I've been swamped with work this week, but I'm hoping to catch a break over the weekend!Anyone up for some fun?#WeekendVibes #LetsDoThis. " It's not worse, but the "up for some fun" may be a bit inappropriate for certain recipients, and the hashtags give off more of a mid-life crisis vibe rather than a youthful and carefree one. Chat Assist's Polite tone alters the ending to: "I would love to spend some quality time with you, " offering something mildly passive-aggressive. I have yet to encounter a message generated by Chat Assist that I would want to use or one that accurately represents me in any way. I could go on providing examples of Chat Assist's complete failure, but I believe the point is clear. If the intention behind this feature is to infuse personality or subtly adjust the tone of a message to suit different individuals, it simply does not succeed. The problem lies not in the words themselves, but in the AI's lack of personality and its inability to comprehend or understand the specific contexts it is attempting to write for. Outside of the occasional ironic usage, which could provide some humorous conversations based on its suggestions, this feature holds no value whatsoever. Samsung must significantly improve Chat Assist's Writing Style mode, particularly if they plan to charge individuals for utilizing certain Galaxy AI features in the future or if they wish to sweep it under the rug, similar to what they did with Bixby. It is surprising that Samsung decided to include their own version of Google's Magic Compose at all. It epitomizes everything negative about AI and undermines the otherwise intriguing Galaxy AI suite, making it seem like a mere gimmick. Apart from using Chat Assist for a few brief amusement, nobody will seriously consider employing it after witnessing how it mangles messages. During the January Unpacked event, Samsung unveiled their next-generation phones, the Galaxy S24 lineup, which includes the base model S24, the larger S24 Plus, and the top-of-the-line S24 Ultra. Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, these phones offer exceptional performance, especially when combined with a minimum of 8GB or 12GB of RAM. The S24 Ultra even features a new 50MP telephoto camera for 5x optical zoom. Additionally, all the S24 models come equipped with a range of innovative Galaxy AI features, such as Live Translate, Chat Assist, Transcript Assist, and more.