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Is This the End of the Smartphone Era?

For 20 years the smartphone ruled. Now it has competition.

It has been our camera, calendar, GPS, and lifeline. But as Brian X. Chen and Tripp Mickle write in The New York Times, the smartphone era may be fading. AI assistants are changing the game. Instead of swiping through apps, you might just say, “Plan dinner with Sam,” and your AI checks the calendar, books the restaurant, and sends the invite.

Suddenly, the phone itself feels less essential. So what could replace it?

• Smart glasses: Meta and Google are building glasses that see what you see, answer questions, and may eventually display notes in front of your eyes.

• Always-on devices : Amazon imagines homes full of AI speakers and screens that quietly handle tasks, reducing your need to grab your phone.

• AI on your wrist : Companies like Nothing are developing smartwatches that manage schedules, calls, and even video chats without a phone.

• Memory machines: Startups such as Limitless AI are testing pendants that record everything you say, offering a “perfect memory” coach.

Don’t worry, smartphones aren’t going to vanish tomorrow. Just like laptops survived mobile, they’ll hang on. But as AI slips into glasses, watches, and even necklaces, your phone could start to feel like old news.

The catch: these always-on gadgets don’t just replace your phone, they threaten your privacy by recording your life.

Could AI Predict Your Next Illness?

What if AI could forecast the diseases you might face in the next 20 years?

Scientists in Europe have built Delphi-2M, an AI tool that predicts the risk of more than 1,000 illnesses - from cancer and diabetes to heart and respiratory conditions.

Trained on anonymized health records from nearly 2 million people in Denmark and 400,000 in the UK, Delphi-2M works like this:

• It analyzes medical history and lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking, and obesity.

• It predicts if (and when) diseases may appear over the next decade and beyond.

• Instead of yes/no answers, it generates probabilities - a “health weather forecast.”

Prof. Moritz Gerstung of the German Cancer Research Centre calls it “the beginning of a new way to understand human health.”

Why it matters: Today’s health calculators usually estimate the risk of just one condition, like a heart attack. Delphi-2M, by contrast, evaluates all major diseases at once and projects risk far further into the future.

Researchers say doctors could use the tool within a few years. Picture a checkup where your physician opens a personalized health map, highlighting your biggest risks and steps to reduce them. Sounds pretty good to me.

AI Necklace: New Best Friend or Creepy Spy?

AI startup Friend is making a bold bet: it just dropped over $1 million on a New York City subway blitz to push its $129 wearable AI pendant. The campaign spans 11,000 car cards, 1,000 posters, and 130 panels, with some stations fully wrapped in stark “Friend” branding.

Founder Avi Schiffman calls it the “world’s first major AI campaign,” though it drained most of the company’s cash, after already spending $1.8M on the friend.com domain.

The necklace itself is now shipping: an always-listening AI companion that hangs around your neck, pairs with your phone, and sends back commentary, suggestions, sometimes even snark.

Reviews have been rough: Wired described it as judgmental and invasive, while public reaction has ranged from wary stares to vandalized posters reading “Get real friends.”

Schiffman says New Yorkers ‘probably hate AI more than anywhere else,’ but as a former New Yorker, I’d say we don’t fall for hype, especially not from a $129 AI necklace.