I love how Cook had to keep explicitly mentioning AI, ML, etc. for all of the stupid ChatGPT enamored folks that don’t understand how much AI is baked into Apple products and software and how Apple Si has AI/ML supporting GPU and Neural Engine cores have been expanding year after year.
Right? When the folks say “But but but Apple is behind!” I’m always like…wut? Chat bots? Search engines? Letter writing wizards? Why do those things matter to anyone, let alone to Apple customers?
Based on the response of users, including Apple customers, it looks like chatbots, search engines and writing assistants are important.
I love how Cook had to keep explicitly mentioning AI, ML, etc. for all of the stupid ChatGPT enamored folks that don’t understand how much AI is baked into Apple products and software and how Apple Si has AI/ML supporting GPU and Neural Engine cores have been expanding year after year.
You are right that Apple has AI integrated in some of their products, but at the same time, they missed some opportunities. One example is Siri. They had a chance to have the best assistant in the market and didn't happen. Another example is Apple suite of apps. Microsoft and Google have done an excellent job by integrating AI into their apps, and Apple has done nothing. I don't think that people don't know or understand how Apple has integrated AI into their products. Is just that other companies have done a better job with AI than Apple with some applications and services.
What did Cook just say? They’ve been working on VisionPro for 5 years! Apple doesn’t pre announce or release just to garner headlines.
I think this years Apple Developer Conference will be telling.
Considering how badly Apple has fumbled voice assistant technology--Siri remains, as ever, the dumbest student in the class--I have concerns about how well it will deploy advanced AI capabilities. I am all-in on Apple devices EXCEPT when it comes smart speakers and voice-controlled lights and appliances. Part of the reason is because Siri continues to be frustratingly and profoundly stupid--but mainly, it's because Alexa and Google are in everything and Siri is not. Siri debuted as an iOS app 14 years ago this month. Then Apple bought the company that developed Siri just two months later. Meanwhile, Amazon wouldn't debut Alexa for another 4.5 years--but it totally blew away Siri capabilities when it hit the market. How Apple frittered away a years-long head start in voice assistant technology is beyond me, but they did and Alexa became ubiquitous.
I think Tim said what he had to say today for the benefit of Wall Street because Apple is simply not in the conversation when it comes to AI... except to ask, "Where is Apple in all of this?" which is not the question you want raised. The lack of specifics in what he said did not inspire confidence that there are specifics to tout--I guess he's hoping to have some by WWDC in June. And you can blah, blah, blah all you want about how much AI is already in Apple products, but it doesn't change the fact that, as a company, they are not in the AI conversation like MSFT, NVDA, GOOG, META, etc.
As a creative professional--you know, a prime target market for Apple--AI is already having a profound and beneficial effect on my work flow. And none of the tools I'm currently using are connected to Apple in any way.
It really pays to look at the sources for what you read and not just the headlines. Since Amazon has never broken out Alexa separately in its quarterly reports, I was curious how anyone could possibly report accurately on the Alexa numbers. Well, there's an answer: they can't. What we know is that the division of which Alexa is a part has been losing money--the Worldwide Digital Services unit. At least, that's what "a person familiar with the division" told Business Inisder. Great source, huh? Not even an "Amazon employee who must remain anonymous." Know what else is in that unit? Prime Video. Now consider that streamers that charge $5-$20/month per subscriber have been losing money hand over fist on streaming... $1 billion per quarter in losses is not unusual with Netflix being the only exception. Amazon has made huge investments in Prime Video--half a BILLION on Lord of the Rings alone, which flopped--and they've been giving this streaming content away for free to Prime members. Gee, I can't imagine why that would be contributing to that division's financial problems. Know what else gets lumped in as an "Alexa" problem? The fact that Amazon loses a ton of money on its mediocre hardware line that it essentially sells at cost. This is because of Alexa? No, it's what happens when you try to sell "meh" hardware at unprofitable prices. No voice assistant can save you from that dumb strategy.
As much as I love Apple and really want them to be leading, considering how much Siri could have done in this space all these years ( regardless of what status Alexa etc are in presently) somehow it feels that 2024 will pass without much to show. Will be very happy if proven wrong.
I love how Cook had to keep explicitly mentioning AI, ML, etc. for all of the stupid ChatGPT enamored folks that don’t understand how much AI is baked into Apple products and software and how Apple Si has AI/ML supporting GPU and Neural Engine cores have been expanding year after year.
The big difference is that competitors have been doing exactly the same for those years and very probably much, much more.
To the point that when these newer elements reached the masses, Apple had nothing to speak of as an equivalent.
The kneejerk reaction of some here was to just criticise the failings of some elements.
There has been little mention of the utterly huge implications of the other elements that are radically changing how we use and are impacted by AI.
Hype? Of course there is hype! Everything needs to be 'sold' and Tim is doing that right now with these comments. He has too but there is absolutely no doubt that he is late to the puck (I'm sure most will agree on that) and reacting to what is happening within the industry.
Why speak about it at all? Isn't that the usual claim? No. They pre-announced the VP and are doing the same with AI for PR/marketing reasons.
I'm fine with that. It's his job after all even if it's way over the top. Completely understandable.
Apple absolutely avoided the term AI over the last two years because it hasn't been able to bring equivalent options to market.
Now it's using it. Again, that is fine.
Now to see what comes of it and what's others have brewing too.
Considering how badly Apple has fumbled voice assistant technology--Siri remains, as ever, the dumbest student in the class--I have concerns about how well it will deploy advanced AI capabilities. I am all-in on Apple devices EXCEPT when it comes smart speakers and voice-controlled lights and appliances. Part of the reason is because Siri continues to be frustratingly and profoundly stupid--but mainly, it's because Alexa and Google are in everything and Siri is not. Siri debuted as an iOS app 14 years ago this month. Then Apple bought the company that developed Siri just two months later. Meanwhile, Amazon wouldn't debut Alexa for another 4.5 years--but it totally blew away Siri capabilities when it hit the market. How Apple frittered away a years-long head start in voice assistant technology is beyond me, but they did and Alexa became ubiquitous.
I think Tim said what he had to say today for the benefit of Wall Street because Apple is simply not in the conversation when it comes to AI... except to ask, "Where is Apple in all of this?" which is not the question you want raised. The lack of specifics in what he said did not inspire confidence that there are specifics to tout--I guess he's hoping to have some by WWDC in June. And you can blah, blah, blah all you want about how much AI is already in Apple products, but it doesn't change the fact that, as a company, they are not in the AI conversation like MSFT, NVDA, GOOG, META, etc.
As a creative professional--you know, a prime target market for Apple--AI is already having a profound and beneficial effect on my work flow. And none of the tools I'm currently using are connected to Apple in any way.
There is a difference between Supervised ML (machine-learning) assistants — which Siri is one — and Unsupervised Generative AI. You can't really compare these apples to apples. A Generative AI chatbot has a massive knowledgebase that is constantly being updated by ingesting new content. Siri, by contrast, learns from a pre-selected knowledgebase that doesn't change. Both are valid approaches. It's just a matter of evolution. We're now entering a new phase of AI/ML — generative content responses — which is not what Siri was originally designed with. It doesn't mean that Apple has fallen behind.
This is another case of Apple not rushing to be the first, but will offer the best, most usable, most accessible version to the largest population. It would be extremely irresponsible of them to move Siri to a Generative AI model without having safeguards in place. We've seen what happens in ChatGPT and how some very concerning responses have been provided.
To truly appreciate how good Siri is in 2024, one must compare it to Siri in 2010. It has come a long way! But it will still faulter if people don't word their queries clearly and with good pronunciation. That's not a fault of Siri, but of the operator. Garbage in, garbage out.
I love how Cook had to keep explicitly mentioning AI, ML, etc. for all of the stupid ChatGPT enamored folks that don’t understand how much AI is baked into Apple products and software and how Apple Si has AI/ML supporting GPU and Neural Engine cores have been expanding year after year.
You are right that Apple has AI integrated in some of their products, but at the same time, they missed some opportunities. One example is Siri. They had a chance to have the best assistant in the market and didn't happen. Another example is Apple suite of apps. Microsoft and Google have done an excellent job by integrating AI into their apps, and Apple has done nothing. I don't think that people don't know or understand how Apple has integrated AI into their products. Is just that other companies have done a better job with AI than Apple with some applications and services.
Apple's genius with technology is providing a simple 'interface' to very complex and ever-evolving sophistication. Just because you can't see the AI/ML in Apple products doesn't mean that it's not there. You're confusing this Generative AI craze over the past year with Apple's decades of ML efforts. Most of that ML tech is "invisible" and "just works". Humans find it difficult to appreciate things they can't see or don't understand.
For those that aren't aware, machine learning — a subset of artificial intelligence — goes back to the 1950's. It's not this magical new technology invented in the past few years. It's just that now with Generative AI models, we're starting to see a new age of AI, one where responses are "generated" on-the-fly. That's very different from what we've had access to in the past 30 years.
The groundwork of computer neural networks — another aspect of AI — was inspired by the works of a Canadian in 1949.
I love how Cook had to keep explicitly mentioning AI, ML, etc. for all of the stupid ChatGPT enamored folks that don’t understand how much AI is baked into Apple products and software and how Apple Si has AI/ML supporting GPU and Neural Engine cores have been expanding year after year.
You are right that Apple has AI integrated in some of their products, but at the same time, they missed some opportunities. One example is Siri. They had a chance to have the best assistant in the market and didn't happen. Another example is Apple suite of apps. Microsoft and Google have done an excellent job by integrating AI into their apps, and Apple has done nothing. I don't think that people don't know or understand how Apple has integrated AI into their products. Is just that other companies have done a better job with AI than Apple with some applications and services.
Apple's genius with technology is providing a simple 'interface' to very complex and ever-evolving sophistication. Just because you can't see the AI/ML in Apple products doesn't mean that it's not there. You're confusing this Generative AI craze over the past year with Apple's decades of ML efforts. Most of that ML tech is "invisible" and "just works". Humans find it difficult to appreciate things they can't see or don't understand.
I love how Cook had to keep explicitly mentioning AI, ML, etc. for all of the stupid ChatGPT enamored folks that don’t understand how much AI is baked into Apple products and software and how Apple Si has AI/ML supporting GPU and Neural Engine cores have been expanding year after year.
You are right that Apple has AI integrated in some of their products, but at the same time, they missed some opportunities. One example is Siri. They had a chance to have the best assistant in the market and didn't happen. Another example is Apple suite of apps. Microsoft and Google have done an excellent job by integrating AI into their apps, and Apple has done nothing. I don't think that people don't know or understand how Apple has integrated AI into their products. Is just that other companies have done a better job with AI than Apple with some applications and services.
Apple's genius with technology is providing a simple 'interface' to very complex and ever-evolving sophistication. Just because you can't see the AI/ML in Apple products doesn't mean that it's not there. You're confusing this Generative AI craze over the past year with Apple's decades of ML efforts. Most of that ML tech is "invisible" and "just works". Humans find it difficult to appreciate things they can't see or don't understand.
I think people appreciate what Apple has done with ML, specifically in the iPhone. But you have to consider that Apple missed opportunities to improve other products. Don't you think that Siri should be better than what we have today? What about improving their productivity apps, like MS and Google did? Or improve developers' tools, as MS did with Github?
Comments
I think this years Apple Developer Conference will be telling.
Must be nice to live in denial.
From 2022,
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/amazon-alexa-is-a-colossal-failure-on-pace-to-lose-10-billion-this-year/
To the point that when these newer elements reached the masses, Apple had nothing to speak of as an equivalent.
The kneejerk reaction of some here was to just criticise the failings of some elements.
There has been little mention of the utterly huge implications of the other elements that are radically changing how we use and are impacted by AI.
Hype? Of course there is hype! Everything needs to be 'sold' and Tim is doing that right now with these comments. He has too but there is absolutely no doubt that he is late to the puck (I'm sure most will agree on that) and reacting to what is happening within the industry.
Why speak about it at all? Isn't that the usual claim? No. They pre-announced the VP and are doing the same with AI for PR/marketing reasons.
I'm fine with that. It's his job after all even if it's way over the top. Completely understandable.
Apple absolutely avoided the term AI over the last two years because it hasn't been able to bring equivalent options to market.
Now it's using it. Again, that is fine.
Now to see what comes of it and what's others have brewing too.
There is a difference between Supervised ML (machine-learning) assistants — which Siri is one — and Unsupervised Generative AI. You can't really compare these apples to apples. A Generative AI chatbot has a massive knowledgebase that is constantly being updated by ingesting new content. Siri, by contrast, learns from a pre-selected knowledgebase that doesn't change. Both are valid approaches. It's just a matter of evolution. We're now entering a new phase of AI/ML — generative content responses — which is not what Siri was originally designed with. It doesn't mean that Apple has fallen behind.
This is another case of Apple not rushing to be the first, but will offer the best, most usable, most accessible version to the largest population. It would be extremely irresponsible of them to move Siri to a Generative AI model without having safeguards in place. We've seen what happens in ChatGPT and how some very concerning responses have been provided.
To truly appreciate how good Siri is in 2024, one must compare it to Siri in 2010. It has come a long way! But it will still faulter if people don't word their queries clearly and with good pronunciation. That's not a fault of Siri, but of the operator. Garbage in, garbage out.
Apple's genius with technology is providing a simple 'interface' to very complex and ever-evolving sophistication. Just because you can't see the AI/ML in Apple products doesn't mean that it's not there. You're confusing this Generative AI craze over the past year with Apple's decades of ML efforts. Most of that ML tech is "invisible" and "just works". Humans find it difficult to appreciate things they can't see or don't understand.
The groundwork of computer neural networks — another aspect of AI — was inspired by the works of a Canadian in 1949.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning
Apple is not "behind" by any means. A radical new Siri is coming.