Security is the big reason to want 17 over 16, though I believe 16 is getting a lot of those features backported still.

Otherwise, I preferred 16. The UX, AI, and all the other garbage I really could do without. I don't love it. My phone (pixel 9) feels slower and the battery is now draining like crazy.

Getting security updates for issues that are not marked high/critical. These are not your typical RCE, but they are used in exploit chains.

For those not aware, Android Security Bulletins only cover high/critical vulnerabilities. There are also rumors that Google will soon stop fixing vulnerabilities in not-actual versions that were discovered by Google in LLM-driven vulnerability discovery. There was recently a GrapheneOS thread about it.

Since about 12 or so, it's been a series of cosmetic changes, bugfixes, and "AI" features.

16 is fine if you don’t connect your phone to rhe internet, or use sms.