Apple is likely working on some kind of answer to ChatGPT and generative AI — because of course it is. It would have been safe to assume that without evidence, but now we have some solid proof that Apple is starting to take AI seriously.
As noticed by TechCrunch, Apple currently has posted 28 AI-related jobs in May alone, and 9to5Mac points out that there’s a total of 88 open jobs at Apple that are somehow related to AI. That’s a lot, especially considering the hiring freeze that was instituted earlier this year.
Still not convinced Apple is taking AI seriously? Well, CEO Tim Cook himself praised generative AI and talked rather positively about it at apple’s second-quarter 2023 earnings call. On the surface, it certainly seems like Apple is heavily interested in what companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and others are up to.
Along with the report that ChatGPT has been banned internally, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is, in fact, working on its own large language models.
All of that certainly makes it sound like Apple is developing its own ChatGPT alternative or AI chatbot. Apple has plenty of products, after all, that could use a healthy does of generative AI to stay up to date with the competition. Siri is the obvious example, and Apple’s recent update to iOS shows that the company is already making some interesting progress with it. But considering that Google has already seemingly abandoned Google Assistant for Bard, the future of Siri is certainly hanging in the balance. Because with the official iOS ChatGPT out in the wild, no one’s going to be using Siri (if they even were to begin with).
But even if Apple doesn’t make a straight ChatGPT alternative, the company has always been interested in assisting people using creative applications. The company has Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and an entire suite of office software — all of which could benefit from text-based generative AI.
Apple’s not usually first to technology, nor is one to copy the competition verbatim — so it’ll be fascinating to see Apple’s approach. Maybe it’ll happen s soon as WWDC 2023 early next month. although the company will likely have its attention focused on the launch of its Reality Pro mixed-reality headset.
