Tim Cook has promised that Apple will “break new ground” on generative AI in 2024.
Cook’s comments were delivered during Apple’s annual shareholders meeting. They follow explanations from Cook during Apple’s Q1 earnings call in which he said Apple was developing gen AI internally but emphasised a cautious and deliberate approach to introducing consumer-facing gen AI iterations.
Compared to the likes of Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Amazon and Zoom, AI hasn’t been at the forefront of what Apple has been promoting or selling.
Apart from Apple adding new autocorrect and text prediction features in iOS last autumn, news also broke last July that Apple employees were using the tech giant’s in-house generative AI, nicknamed Apple GPT, to boost their productivity.
Bloomberg reported then that Apple had been creating a framework through which to develop its own large language models (LLMs), named Ajax. Ajax allows Apple to possibly create a generative AI product to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard or Microsoft’s Copilot.
A more recent Bloomberg report suggests Apple intends to enhance Siri and iOS’ built-in search tool, Spotlight, by integrating GenAI models. This aims to empower both platforms to address more intricate prompts and manage advanced multi-turn conversations.
However, as this latest earnings call illustrated, any significant gen AI service designed for sophisticated enterprise or consumer use cases seems far off. Whether this “groundbreaking” gen AI reveal will feature Ajax or an entirely new LLM and product is currently up in the air.
A shareholder proposal to release a report on AI and ethics was also voted down during Apple’s annual shareholders meeting.
How Might the Vision Pro Impact Collaboration?
It’s still very early days for both the Vision Pro and the concept of XR and spatial computing technology being utilised for communications and collaboration, but UC Today canvassed its panel of experts on this month’s Big UC News show for their thoughts so far on the device and their predictions for its future.
“What I think is most interesting about this is the timing of the entrance of Apple into the market,” said Maribel Lopez, Principal Analyst at Lopez Research. “There is opportunity in the market, and it is at the enterprise level. As consumers, we get all excited, and we’re like, ‘Well, who’s going to pay $3,500?’ But it’s not your average consumer. It’s a big business; it has a business use case.”
While its enterprise use cases might be niche at the moment, the experts were more enthusiastic about its long-term potential in revolutionising meetings.
Craig Durr, Senior Analyst at Futurum Group, highlighted that the next generation of knowledge workers will be “used to seeing an overlay of information on top of everything else”.
“Even, for example, I might be presenting, I can start getting information like audience sentiment, I can get feedback about whether I am being longwinded, and things like that could help in the collaboration element of this,” Durr added.
Apple Moving Towards Enterprise-Friendly Solutions
While Apple Products such as Macs and iPhones have naturally always included enterprise capabilities, 2023 saw Apple make more significant steps into the business technology space, even putting aside the Vision Pro.
At last year’s WWDC, Apple revealed plans to turn the iPhone into a huddle camera through integration with Apple TV. The feature leverages Apple’s Continuity Camera mode, allowing iPhones and iPads to function wirelessly as webcams.
Apple also unveiled new video conferencing features for the macOS to enhance meetings across all platforms. macOS Sonoma includes Presenter Overlay, allowing users to position themselves on top of content such as slideshows. They’ll have the option of appearing as a small bubble or in a larger frame, and the feature removes the participant from their background and places the content behind them.
Meanwhile, last April, Apple filed a next-generation camera system patent for FaceTime with advanced enterprise collaboration possibilities, including the capability to parse in-air gestures and process physical drawings into digital media.
Apple published a patent application form that included a new conferencing interface aiming to improve the user experience of those employing FaceTime for business or education purposes. The solution aims to allow easier sharing of content during video meetings.
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