TapTechNews June 6 news, it is reported that Apple is collaborating with OpenAI to introduce generative AI features to Siri. However, Siri's co-founder, Dag Kittlaus, predicts that this may only be a stopgap measure as Apple is researching and improving its own chatbot technology.
TapTechNews noted that Bloomberg reported on Apple and OpenAI's collaboration earlier this month. The report stated that Apple is in the process of reaching an agreement with OpenAI to introduce some of its technologies into the iPhone this year. Through this agreement, Apple will be able to provide a 'popular chatbot' supported by ChatGPT in the AI functions of iOS 18.
It is believed that Apple signed this agreement to quickly enhance the intelligence level of Siri in the iOS 18 update. Apple has not officially confirmed this partnership and is not expected to make a high-profile announcement at the WWDC 24 keynote next week, nor should OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, be present at the release.
According to 9to5mac, Apple has been developing its own generative AI chatbot, codenamed 'AppleGPT'. It is reported that this technology has been used internally by the company for more than a year.
Subsequently, an Apple research paper indicates that the company aims to have its chatbot operate on devices for local processing to maximize privacy. In contrast, all processing of ChatGPT takes place on OpenAI's servers.
A new Bloomberg article includes Kittlaus's comments, which is mainly a review of its previous reports.
'(Apple) is infusing AI into its voice assistant Siri, and the company's own chatbot technology is not yet mature enough,' said Kittlaus, who is a seasoned tech industry veteran and co-founded and ran Siri business before it was acquired by Apple. 'But you can bet they will strive to build their own strengths in this area.'
9to5mac stated that Apple likes to control the entire ecosystem, including hardware, software, and services, and this tight integration is the key to its ecosystem. In the long run, Apple will definitely want to use its own AI chatbot technology.
However, it will take time for Apple to catch up with the capabilities of ChatGPT, and it can't wait any longer. A temporary agreement can solve this problem while also bringing another benefit: reducing the impact of some of the current generative AI technology's flaws on the company. ChatGPT and its competitors are still prone to 'AI hallucinations', where the system confidently gives completely wrong answers. It is reported that Apple will label its AI features as beta and will attach a disclaimer similar to 'this reply is generated by ChatGPT'. The latest Bloomberg report also stated that users who want to use the generative AI functions in iOS 18 need to explicitly choose to opt-in.