Nothing CEO Carl Pei thinks the smartphone we use today is barely any different from the Palm Pilots and PDAs we used two decades ago. It’s the same lock screens, home screens, app stores, and full-screen apps experience.
According to Pei, it’s because the industry has not really evolved in 20 years, and he is convinced AI is the answer. Speaking at SXSW, Pei made a bold claim that apps are going to disappear. Not tomorrow, but the direction is clear, and founders better start paying attention.
Are your apps going to be obsolete in the future?
Pei’s argument starts with a simple, relatable example. Say you want to grab coffee with a friend. That one intention requires a messaging app, Maps, Uber, and your calendar. Four apps, multiple steps, all for one cup of coffee. “It’s very hard to get things done on a phone,” he said at SXSW.
His vision for the future is a device that skips all of that. “I know you very well, and if I know your intention, I just do it for you,” is how he describes the ideal smartphone of the future.
So what does Carl Pei think comes next?
Carl Pei breaks down the AI evolution into stages. First comes AI that can execute commands on your behalf, like booking a flight or a hotel. It’s similar to what Google and Samsung are trying with their smartphones using Gemini integration. He called this stage “super boring.”
The next stage is more interesting. An AI that understands your long-term goals and nudges you toward them over time, almost like a proactive life assistant rather than a reactive tool. The most powerful stage is when the system starts surfacing ideas you never even thought to ask for. “When the system knows us so well, it will come up with things that we don’t even knew we wanted,” Pei explained.
For this to work, the interface itself has to change. Pei is clear that AI agents should not be tapping through menus like a robot pretending to be human. “You need to create an interface for the agent to use,” he said.
He also believes that voice will become the main input, but the display will remain the main output. “The interface that I really believe in is voice-in, because speaking is the easiest way to input something. And not audio out, it’s still a screen out. I think that’s the most efficient user interface.”
I agree with many of Carl Pei’s ideas, but I still believe a truly helpful AI assistant is years away. Companies like Rabbit, Humane, and even Apple have failed to create a useful AI assistant. Hopefully, a fast-moving company like Nothing can crack the code.
