"That Samsung is giving users the option to toggle on-device AI on or off, however, is to be applauded, from both a user privacy perspective, but also from the perspective of complete transparency."

In principle, yes. However, there is the danger that OS bugs or updates or malware tamper with such settings and some time privacy might be lost without the user being aware. Current smartphone OSs are not as robust as, say, Windows group policy settings, of which the core remains untouched by the OS for a decade.