Apple have released some details of their long-awaited AI strategy at a developer conference today at its campus in Apple Park, California.
This will include a generative AI integration which Bloomberg sources have claimed will be called ‘Apple Intelligence’.
Partnership with OpenAI?
Unlike some of their competitors, Apple will not be developing their own, in-house genrative AI model at this time.
Instead, it’s been confirmed that Apple have made a deal with OpenAI. OpenAI have developed several AI-based technologies, most notably their ChatGPT cahtbot software.
Apple “Intelligence”
Apple is set to introduce AI to their products in a big way, with their suite of AI products being dubbed “Apple Intelligence”.
They revealed they will use the latest advances in AI technology to power their latest software advancements for Macs, iPhones and other Apple products.
Siri Supercharger
If OpenAI technology is integrated into Siri, it could represent a significant step forward for the chatbot.
An analyst at CCS Insight suggests of GPT-4o, the latest ChatGPT model, that “if Apple has signed a deal to integrate GPT-4o with Siri, it could deliver a remarkable transformation in Siri’s performance – and emerge as arguably the biggest story from the event.”
On-Device Processing for Privacy
Apple devices will contain new features to improve privacy by moving processes from the cloud back to devices.
Apple’s AI strategy includes allowign some basic AI tasks to be performed on-device to enhance privacy. More complex tasks will still be handled via cloud computing.
When Does My Mom’s Flight Land?
New advances in AI-driven technology allow user requests to be answered from multiple apps and sources.
Apple demonstrated this at the conference by asking the question: “When does my mom’s flight land?”, at which point the AI tool showed that it draw upon multiple sources across its systems to come up with an informative answer.
Apple Intelligence Can Take Over Apps
Apple claim their new technology will have more integration between apps than in the past.
Apps can ‘talk’ to each other, communicating relevant tasks as appropriate. For example, if you receive a music recommendation through messages, it will be able to play the music for you in a music app.
Privacy Comes at a Cost
Although many of these freshly-announced features will be available through a software update, some will only function on the latest hardware.
Only Apple products with an A17 Pro or M-Series chip will receive the major on-device AI processing capabilities. So you’ll have to fork out for that extra layer of security.
Apple Finally Showing Their Cards
Apple have been coy for the past few years about their intentions for AI-driven technology, even as other companies released competitors to products such as Siri.
Since Siri’s release in 2011, Amazon have released Alexa, Microsoft have released Cortana and Google the Google Assistant. Apple’s AI plan is an attempt to catch up with and potentially surpass their competitors in the AI space.
The Do-It-All AI Personal Assistant
The race is on to finally create that holy grail of technology: the do-it-all personal assistant.
The height of convenience, this type of assistant would react naturally to requests and use the most appropriate apps and processes to fulfil the user’s request. Will Siri fit the bill with its latest AI make-over?
