Carl Pei: AI Agents Will Render Smartphone Apps Obsolete

Carl Pei, co-founder and CEO of Nothing, envisions a future for personal technology that transcends the current iPhone paradigm, centered instead on devices driven by AI agents rather than traditional applications.

"Regarding AI in software, I believe people should grasp that applications are poised to vanish," stated Pei, whose consumer electronics brand is known for its distinctive smartphones and accessories. He cautioned, "Therefore, if you are a founder or a startup whose core value resides in your app, that will inevitably be disrupted."

Pei articulated these insights during an interview at the SXSW conference in Austin on Wednesday.

This vision of an AI-first device is not new for Pei; it played a significant role in helping Nothing secure its $200 million Series C funding round last year. During that period, the company presented the concept of an innovative smartphone leveraging AI and personalization technology so precise that users would not feel compelled to verify its outputs.

At SXSW, Pei further elaborated on his comprehensive vision for AI-centric devices and outlined the evolutionary stages required to realize it.

The initial phase, currently under exploration by several companies, involves AI features capable of executing specific commands on behalf of users, such as booking flights or hotels. Pei, however, dismissed this foundational step as "super boring."

The subsequent stage, according to Pei, promises greater intrigue, as AI systems will evolve to understand a user’s long-term intentions. For example, if a user aims for improved health, the device could proactively offer prompts and guidance to facilitate goal attainment.

"I believe it becomes even more potent when it begins to surface suggestions for you; you won't need to manually conceive an idea," Pei elaborated. He added, "When the system knows us intimately, it will generate things we didn't even realize we desired," drawing a parallel to features like ChatGPT's memory function.

Describing his vision for an AI-first smartphone, Pei depicted it as a device that autonomously performs tasks for the user without requiring explicit commands.

"The current method of phone usage is remarkably old-school. It harks back to the pre-iPhone era…to Palm Pilots and PDAs," Pei observed. He continued, "If you consider the user experience, it remains strikingly similar: lock screens, home screens, apps. You navigate through various apps, each occupying a full screen. There's an app store for downloads. Essentially, it hasn't fundamentally evolved in about 20 years."

This stagnation is a source of frustration for Pei, given the substantial evolution in underlying consumer technology, contrasted with the lack of corresponding innovation in product interfaces. He highlighted how even straightforward tasks often necessitate navigating numerous steps.

"It's exceedingly difficult to accomplish tasks on a phone," Pei asserted. He illustrated, "Consider the intention to grab coffee. To execute that, we must navigate through a multitude of steps and applications. It likely involves four distinct apps to arrange coffee with someone — a messaging app, a map service, Uber, and a calendar."

He further elaborated, "I believe the future of smartphones and operating systems should simply be: 'I understand you profoundly, and if I comprehend your intention, I will execute it for you,' rather than requiring manual navigation through multiple applications."

"It should simply be accomplished through AI," he affirmed.

This paradigm shift implies that future devices would feature an interface not primarily designed for human app navigation, but rather one optimized for interaction by the AI agent itself.

Pei clarified that this does not signify the immediate disappearance of applications. Nothing's current operating system even empowers users to "vibe code" their own mini-apps. However, he stressed that ultimately, AI will need to interact with "apps" seamlessly, without attempting to simulate human gestures like navigating menus or tapping options on a smartphone.

"That is not the future. The future does not involve the agent utilizing a human interface. We must design an interface specifically for the agent's use. I believe this represents the more future-proof approach," Pei concluded.