Here's an interesting pitch: What if the future of technology involves fewer screens, not more? That's the bet Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is making as it reimagines what comes after smartphones.
Panos Panay, who runs Amazon's devices and services division, thinks there's a fundamental shift happening. Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, he pointed to something many parents have already noticed: young people are getting exhausted by endless social media scrolling.
"There's a whole younger generation coming up that I think at some point they get tired of doom scrolling," Panay said. His argument is that kids growing up in an "AI world" will eventually demand something better than the constant friction of opening apps, tapping screens, and hunting through menus.
The World Beyond Your Phone Screen
So what does Amazon's alternative look like? Panay calls it "ambient intelligence," which is a fancy way of saying technology that just works in the background without demanding your attention. Think less smartphone, more seamless assistant that knows what you need.
He shared a surprisingly relatable example: his family arguing about where to eat dinner. Instead of everyone pulling out phones and debating restaurant options through screens, they just asked Alexa. "It's such a joy because there's no opening a phone, opening the app, clicking, finding … none of it," he explained.
That's the vision Amazon is chasing. Technology should integrate so smoothly into daily life that you barely notice it's there. No screens necessary.
To make this happen, Amazon is working on new hardware beyond the smart speakers and displays you already know. Panay didn't spill details on specific products, but he mentioned having a "lab full of ideas," suggesting the Echo devices sitting in millions of homes are just the starting point.
The company's strategy involves expanding its lineup of wearables and smart devices to ensure users can access their AI assistant anywhere, anytime. "I think you're going to want your assistant with you everywhere you go," Panay said. The goal is making AI a constant companion that doesn't require you to stop what you're doing and stare at a screen.
Central to this plan is the upgraded "Alexa Plus," which Amazon wants to transform from a basic command-taker into a sophisticated "home manager." We're talking about something with "unlimited depth of understanding" and contextual memory, meaning it would remember previous conversations and preferences instead of treating every interaction like you're meeting for the first time.
The Privacy Question Nobody Can Ignore
Of course, there's an obvious tension here. The more Amazon wants Alexa to understand about your life, the more data it needs to collect. And that makes a lot of people understandably nervous.
Panay tackled this head-on, describing security as absolutely non-negotiable. "I feel like it's a contract with our customers, period. We break that contract, we lose our customers," he said bluntly.
He emphasized that Amazon treats security as the "first premise" in product design, not something bolted on afterward. As the company pushes deeper into ambient intelligence, maintaining that trust becomes even more critical. Nobody wants an all-knowing home manager that might be leaking their dinner debates to advertisers.
Panay wrapped up his comments with a broader cultural observation. He thinks we're heading toward a shift away from constant screen time, with people seeking more meaningful activities. "I think learning is one of the finest arts on the planet … and I think reading does that," he said, advocating for a return to books over endless scrolling.
Whether Amazon can actually deliver on this screen-free future remains to be seen. But if Panay is right about younger generations craving something beyond their phones, the company positioning itself now could have a significant advantage when that cultural shift accelerates.
The stock currently shows strong performance in quality metrics compared to peers, suggesting investors are at least intrigued by Amazon's broader strategic direction, even as the company experiments with these more futuristic ideas.