Apple is rumored to be leveraging the capabilities of generative AI to build a new “personality” that could live inside upcoming robotic devices and potentially function similarly to how Siri currently operates on the iPhone.
That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, one of the most reliable sources when it comes to Apple's future products. Gurman has previously spoken about Apple's plans to create home robots, but has now added more details about a possible artificial intelligence assistant.
“While Siri is the digital assistant on Apple's current devices, the company is working on another human-like interface based on generative AI,” Gurman writes. “I'm told it could work on the desktop product and other future Apple robotic devices.”
According to Gurman, Apple wants such a desktop robot (perhaps something along the lines of the Amazon Astro) to cost less than $1,000 (around £760 or AU$1,475). However, it seems that such robotic devices are still in the early stages of development and there is no guarantee that they will ever see the light of day.
Apple Intelligence Everywhere
A key part of Apple’s robotics work is creating a personality. While Siri is the digital assistant on Apple’s current devices, the company is working on another human-like interface based on GenAI. It could work on the table and other future Apple robotic devices.August 25, 2024
What we do know for sure is that Apple is making a lot of noise about Apple Intelligence, the suite of generative AI features (text creation, text summarization, image generation, and more) that will be coming to iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers later this year, alongside other major software updates.
Given that Apple is now fully committed to next-generation AI, it makes sense that it would be working on a project like a new robotic personality, one that would be more capable and more natural at conversation than Siri is right now.
That said, we do know that much of the generative AI on Apple devices will be powered by ChatGPT, at least for the time being. Clearly, Apple has some catching up to do in this area before it can launch its own generative AI chatbot.
Gurman himself says Apple's robotics work is “very promising,” though he also admits that it's “unclear” to what extent Apple will commit to releasing an actual home robot. The company's next step is the launch of the iPhone 16.
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