Artificial Intelligence’s growth spells end of phones, says will.i.am

Music star and technology entrepreneur will.i.am believes smartphones will become obsolete in just over a decade as people get to grips with artificial intelligence.

“With AI, we’re all missing something right now. We’re all missing something that we’ll all have in 2030. In 2030, we don’t have a phone,” the Voice star told the Standard at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

“The way people are going about it right now is like a layer on top of the operating system, while we believe the AI is the operating system.”

The musician’s company i.am+ is behind AneedA, a personal assistant similar to Apple’s Siri. The name is a mash-up of Anita and “need”.

Will.i.am was speaking at the launch of Veon, a new AI-powered internet platform.

Veon, which is Dutch telecoms giant VimpelCom’s attempt to reinvent itself as a tech company, includes messaging, music and video and has also partnered with music-streaming firm Deezer.

The Veon app will be available to download in the UK.