The emergence of large language models (LLMs), which power ground-breaking technologies like ChatGPT, has made it difficult for Apple to stay up with AI capabilities and innovation, according to a recent behind-the-scenes report in The Information.
The article focuses on the initiatives taken by John Giannandrea, the organization’s AI chief since 2018, to organize a disorganized AI group and make Apple more competitive with businesses like Google, from which Giannandrea fled.
For instance, it discloses that Apple’s long-in-development mixed reality headset team was so fed up with Siri that it contemplated creating a totally different, alternative voice control system for the headgear.
However, it goes beyond merely listing unimportant facts; rather, it presents all of this data in a structured manner to make the case that Apple is unprepared to compete in the quickly developing field of AI.
Do indeed think differently
That’s a different strategy from the bold, innovative experimentation you see at businesses like OpenAI, Microsoft, or Google. Apple has been fairly cautious, looking to use AI and machine learning as a tool to enhance the user experience rather than to completely disrupt or reimagine how much of anything is done.
In fact, sources for The Information cite numerous instances of senior Apple leadership putting the breaks on (or at least reining in) aggressive efforts within the company’s AI group out of concern that products like Siri would exhibit the same types of embarrassing factual mistakes or irrational behavior as ChatGPT and its ilk. In other words, Apple doesn’t like allowing “hallucinations,” as they are known to those involved with AI research and product development.