Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, says smartphone apps will disappear as AI agents take their place

Carl Pei, co-founder and CEO of Nothing, envisions a future beyond the iPhone — a device powered by AI agents, not running apps.

“In terms of AI in software, I think people have to understand that apps are going away,” said Pei, whose consumer electronics brand makes unique smartphones and other accessories. “So, if you’re a founder or a startup and your app is like where the core value lies, that’s going to be disrupted whether you like it or not.”

Lee made the comments during an interview at the SXSW conference in Austin on Wednesday.

The founder has talked about an AI-driven device before, as this vision helped the company close a $200 million Series C funding round last year. At the time, there was nothing that floated the idea of ​​creating a new type of smartphone using AI and personalization technology that would be precise enough so that its users wouldn’t feel like they had to bypass the AI ​​and double-check its output.

At SXSW, Pai expanded on his vision for an AI-first device and the steps needed to get there.

The initial step, which some companies are testing today, is an AI feature that can carry out a command on users’ behalf, such as booking flights or hotels. However, Pei dismissed the move as “very boring”.

The next step is where things can get more interesting, as AI starts to learn about the user’s long-term intentions. For example, if you want to be healthier, the device can give you alerts to help you achieve your goals.

“I think it becomes more powerful when it starts showing you suggestions; you don’t have to manually come up with an idea… When the system knows us well, it will come up with things we don’t even know.” [know] Pai explained, comparing the concept to something like ChatGPT’s memory feature.

Describing how he envisions an AI-first smartphone, Pai said it would be a device that would do things for you without you having to take commands.

“The current way we use phones is very old. It’s pre-iPhone… There were Palm Pilots and PDAs back then. And if you think about the user experience, it’s still very similar,” Pai said. “You have lock screens, home screens, apps. You’re browsing different apps. Every app is like a full-screen thing. There’s kind of an app store that allows you to download more apps. So it hasn’t really changed for 20 years.”

This is what frustrates him because the technology that consumers use has evolved a little, but the products we use have not. He explained that even simple tasks make us jump through multiple steps.

“It’s very difficult to get things done using a phone,” Pai said. “Let’s say we want to have coffee. That’s an intention. But to execute that intention, we have to go through many different steps and many different apps. Maybe it’s like four apps to have coffee with someone — some messaging app, some kind of map, Uber, a calendar.”

He continued: “I think the future of smartphones or operating systems should be like: ‘I know you well, and if I know your intention, I’m doing it just for you,’ instead of having to go through all the apps manually.”

“It should only be done through artificial intelligence,” he said.

This also means that the devices will have an interface that is not focused on applications that humans can navigate, but will instead have an interface designed to be used by an AI agent.

Pai cautioned that this does not mean that the applications will disappear in the near term. There is no proprietary operating system that allows users to program their own widgets today. But ultimately, the AI ​​will need to be able to use the “app” in a fluid way, and not try to imitate the human touch on smartphones by navigating through menus and clicking on options.

“This is not the future. The future is not the agent using a human interface. You need to create an interface for the agent to use. I think this is the most future-proof way to do it,” Pai said.