Since the beginning of the year, major technology companies have faced stiff competition in the generative AI market, with Google and Microsoft currently leading the way. Both are trying to control the new era of AI-based search that is beginning, while keeping Apple virtually silent.
The development of artificial intelligence is nothing new for Apple. The company introduced the voice assistant Siri 12 years ago, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to recognize and understand speech and make queries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors in February that "artificial intelligence will be a major focus of the company," noting that the company is already leveraging features like crash detection in the Apple Watch and iPhone.
But why hasn't Apple really entered the generative AI race yet and developed a great language model to compete with Google's PaLM 2 model, Google's first direct competitor to Microsoft's GPT-4 model of OpenAI? Their product last March?
Chatbot contest:
earlier this month; Google announced a number of AI-powered features and products at its annual developer conference (Google I / O 2023), including: making chatbot Bard publicly available in 180 countries and adding the assistant (Duet AI). Workspace suite and other new features in Gmail, Google Photos, and Maps.
But Google isn't the only one doing this; Microsoft joined last Tuesday; It also announced new AI at its annual developer conference (Build 2023), including: Bing Chat support for extensions, AI Embed in Windows 11, the App Store, and more.
Apple's wait-and-see attitude:
When it comes to new technologies, Apple generally takes a wait-and-see attitude, which it often succeeds in doing: Apple may not have invented the tablet, but the iPad is now the world's biggest hit on the tablet market.
In addition, it has not yet entered the foldable phone market, its traditional competitor in the smartphone market, Samsung, is already ahead and Google is in the lead this year. However, ever since the company announced its foldable phone (the Pixel Fold) at its developer conference, there have been rumors that Apple could launch a foldable iPhone (potentially called the "iPhone Flip") in 2025.
And according to the company's CEO, Tim Cook (Tim Cook), Apple appears to be taking a similar approach to generative AI, as Cook answered questions about generative AI this month during the Apple Awards tender. This step is well thought out and we should first look at how to deal with AI issues. "There are many problems that need to be solved," Xi said.
But with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, there is no doubt that Apple can lag behind its competitors, as Apple lagged behind in some categories, for example: the HomePod smart speaker appeared only a few years later. As for the Amazon Echo and Google Home - they both have much larger market shares than Apple in the smart speaker category - despite all the company's past successes.
Apple is preparing to enter the artificial intelligence market:
A Wall Street Journal report finds that Apple is building a great voice model for chatbots to compete with ChatGPT and Google's Bard, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
The effort in this area is being led by former Google AI chief John Gianandrea, who joined Apple in 2018.
In addition, Apple is employing a large number of researchers and scientists in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning in several areas, the most important of which is the smart model for creating visual content. As (Techcrunch) monitored Apple didn't publish anything between the end of the month and early last week, and there were fewer than a dozen job openings for a research-based AI specialist.
The Wall Street Journal also said that Apple banned its employees from using ChatGPT, as well as other AI tools like Copilot on Microsoft's GitHub platform, out of fear that confidential company data might be leaked because user input was sent to the company. According to an internal document reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, tools are being developed to help train AI models.
Is artificial intelligence the focus of this year's Apple Developer Conference?
If reports and leaks that Apple is developing a large-scale language model are correct, Apple will be the latest company to enter the generative AI market, along with big players like Microsoft, Google, and Meta. It provides models, tools, and capabilities of an AI-based language.
This coincides with the approach of Apple's annual developer conference in early June, where the company could announce the incorporation of generative AI into its products or announce the official launch of it with a new smart tool or platform.