Next week’s WWDC 2024 keynote carries immense significance for Apple. The stakes are arguably higher than last year’s Vision Pro announcement, with the tech world eagerly anticipating what Tim Cook and his team will unveil. On Monday, Apple will outline its ambitious AI plans, an area where it has lagged behind competitors like Google and Microsoft.
Rumors suggest that Apple will introduce “Apple Intelligence,” a suite of AI features bolstered by a partnership with OpenAI. This collaboration aims to integrate advanced AI capabilities into iPhones and Macs, with Siri at the forefront. Since its launch in 2011, Apple has positioned Siri as a core component of its ecosystem. However, over the past 13 years, it has struggled to live up to the revolutionary potential Apple once promised.
Challenges with Siri
The primary issue with Siri has been its limited capabilities. While the idea of an artificial voice assistant has been around for decades, the technology needed for a seamless experience has proven difficult to achieve. Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky noted in 2018 that Apple’s original vision for Siri was much narrower, focusing on tasks like entertainment and travel. As smartphones have evolved into multifunctional devices, the complexity of Siri’s role has grown exponentially.
Generative AI, despite its advancements, is not yet perfect. Problems like “hallucinations” — instances where AI generates incorrect or nonsensical information — remain a significant hurdle. This issue highlights the fact that while AI has made significant strides, it is still in its infancy. Google’s integration of its generative AI platform, Gemini, into its search results is a prime example of the technology’s current limitations. Placing AI-generated responses above trusted sources in search results has led to notable errors, emphasizing the need for more refinement.
Google Approach with Gemini
Google has taken a cautious approach with Gemini, integrating it into Android applications rather than replacing Google Assistant entirely. Users can opt-in to use Gemini as their default assistant on Pixel devices, but this requires deliberate action on their part. This strategy signals Google’s intent to eventually replace Google Assistant with Gemini, but it also acknowledges that the technology needs more time to mature.
Apple remains committed to the Siri brand, having invested over a decade in marketing the product. However, the emergence of generative AI suggests that the smart assistant landscape is poised for a significant shift. The decline in smart speaker shipments, which serve as a bellwether for voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, underscores the need for innovation in this space.
Generative AI is seen as the logical next step for voice assistants, yet the first generation of AI-powered devices, such as the Humane Ai Pin and Rabbit R1, highlight how much further the technology needs to go. These devices have showcased the potential of generative AI but also its current limitations.
Apple’s Expected Announcement
On Monday, people expect Apple to finally reveal its hand. Reports indicate that following the company’s scaled-back electric car project, a significant number of employees have been reassigned to focus on generative AI. While Apple may have ceded an early lead to competitors, a partnership with a powerhouse like OpenAI represents a strategic move to regain ground.
Reflecting on the early days of Siri, Steve Jobs emphasized that Apple was focused on AI, not competing directly in the search business. “It’s an AI company,” Jobs said. “We’re not going into the search business. We don’t care about it. Other people do it well.” This philosophy appears to guide Apple’s current approach to generative AI. Rather than trying to outdo OpenAI, Apple is leveraging partnerships to enhance its AI capabilities.
As Apple prepares to unveil its AI plans at WWDC 2024, it faces the challenge of integrating generative AI into its ecosystem while maintaining the reliability and functionality users expect. While the partnership with OpenAI is a significant step, the journey to fully realizing the potential of generative AI in everyday applications is just beginning. The industry will be watching closely to see how Apple navigates this transformative period and what it means for the future of AI-powered devices.
See also: The Generative AI By Apple May Not Support Standard IPhone 15
