AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file photo

AI tools keep popping up in search results, on social media platforms, and everywhere. And they’re increasingly becoming an important part of new smartphones. But is that what we want?

Every fourth Friday of the month, we discuss such consumer technology questions with Houston Chronicle columnist Dwight Silverman. In the audio above, he gives some recent examples, including features in Google’s new line of Pixel 9 phones. He also tells Houston Matters host Craig Cohen how digital images can increasingly be manipulated (for better or worse) using AI tools, and the usefulness of a new gadget called Plaud.ai.

The two also discuss the increasing prevalence of AI-based “summary language” in Google search results.

Silverman also shares what he knows about Apple’s iOS 18 beta, what rumors are circulating about the upcoming iPhone 16 and, in non-AI-related news, why HEB has been so slow to roll out Apple Pay tap-to-pay in its Houston-area stores (Central Market stores now accept it).