Apple GPT: What we know about Apple's work on generative artificial intelligence

Julie Clover

With the explosive popularity of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, there have been rumors that Apple is working on its own AI product and that some kind of AI bot “Apple GPT” could be launched in the future.

This guide tells you everything we know about Apple's AI experiments, and it will updated regularly. as new rumors emerge.

Internal testing and development

Apple's head of artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, leads the development of large language models at Apple, and Giannandrea reports directly to Apple. CEO Tim Cook. Giannandrea created the team working on conversational artificial intelligence four years ago, and work has intensified since then.

Over the past few months, Apple has been testing an “Apple GPT” competitor that could compete with ChatGPT. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, work on artificial intelligence is a priority for Apple: the company is developing an Ajax platform for large language models.

Apple has an internal chatbot that some engineers call “Apple GPT,” but Apple would certainly never use that name for a consumer product. Apple employees need special permission to use the chatbot, and its output cannot be used to develop new product features for customers. It is used for prototyping the product and is capable of answering questions about the data that was used to train it.

Ajax is said to be more functional than the previous generation ChatGPT 3.5 and has undergone training. on more than 200 billion parameters. As of September 2023, OpenAI's new models are supposedly more powerful than Ajax.

Apple reportedly does not have a “clear strategy” for how it will build a generative AI product for consumers. Apple is experimenting with improvements to Siri, software that generates video and images, and multimodal artificial intelligence technology that works with images, video and text.

Apple is reported to be spending millions of dollars a day on conversational artificial intelligence research. since learning language models requires a lot of hardware.

AI for Siri

Apple's work on generative artificial intelligence may eventually be included in ‌Siri‌ voice assistant. In February 2023, Apple held an artificial intelligence summit and briefed employees on its work on a large language model.

Due to the fact that ‌Siri‌ built, it may take Apple a long time to update its database to support new features. Former ‌Siri‌ engineer John Berkey told The New York Times that the “clunky design” of ‌Siri‌ means that adding new phrases requires rebuilding ‌Siri‌ Database that can take up to six weeks each time, while more complex features such as search tools can take over a year.

There are also privacy concerns that Apple needs to overcome in order to implement generative AI capabilities in ‌Siri‌. Apple has always been more cautious than its competitors in prioritizing privacy over functionality, and this decision forced ‌Siri‌ fall behind Alexa, Google Assistant and other voice assistants.

The information suggests that Apple is aiming to create a feature that will allow ‌Siri‌ automate multi-step tasks by automatically performing tasks that today are performed using shortcuts.

Apple bans on third-party artificial intelligence

Apple employees banned from using ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot and other artificial intelligence tools. Apple is concerned that artificial intelligence tools could lead to the leakage of confidential company data.

The US government, healthcare institutions and banks have also banned employees from using ChatGPT due to similar concerns. Tech companies like Verizon, Google, Samsung and others have also banned generative AI tools.

AI Competition

Almost every major tech company has some kind of product AI in the works. In addition to OpenAI's popular ChatGPT chatbot, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are using generative AI for various purposes.

Google– Google has developed Bard, an artificial intelligence tool based on chat. Google has also integrated generative AI into its search products and apps, and Bard can integrate with Google Flights, Maps, Drive, and more.
Microsoft – Microsoft partners with OpenAI to a version of ChatGPT integrated with the Bing search engine.
Amazon – Amazon is working to improve its Alexa voice assistant using generative artificial intelligence.
Meta. Meta is incorporating generative AI into several of its applications. For example, WhatsApp and Messenger can use generative AI to create custom stickers, and Meta AI is available in beta for WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.

Apple's current use of artificial intelligence and machine learning

Apple already uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to perform a long list of functions in its products. AI is used in almost everything, a small sample is shown.

Photos. Apple uses machine learning to improve photos taken with the iPhone's camera. This includes everything from Deep Fusion for reducing noise in images to the iPhone 15's new Portrait Mode tools, which let you enable portrait images after the photo has been taken.
Spotlight Search – Spotlight search and search across the entire iOS operating system are powered by artificial intelligence.
Visual Search – A feature that allows ‌iPhone‌ Content detection in photos is a machine learning feature.
Collision detection and fall detection. Fall detection and collision detection use machine learning to determine whether someone has had an accident or not. Data collected from various Apple device sensors indicates a fall.
ECG– The ECG feature on Apple Watch analyzes heart rate data to determine if someone has atrial fibrillation.
Auto-correction – Apple's autocorrect system and word suggestions work. using machine learning.
Siri Suggestions– when your ‌iPhone‌ suggests something, like sending someone a birthday message or adding an event from the Mail app to your calendar, it uses machine learning algorithms.

Apple devices have special neural mechanisms inside them that specially designed to power machines. learning opportunities.

Tim Cook on artificial intelligence

Back in May 2023, Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌ said the potential of artificial intelligence is “very exciting” but said there are “a number of issues that need to be addressed” with the technology. He explained that it is “very important to be careful and thoughtful” when deciding how and when to use AI.

Cook also said that AI and machine learning are “core fundamental technologies that are integral to virtually all each product.” that Apple created, and that work on artificial intelligence is “absolutely important” to the company. Cook confirmed that Apple has been experimenting with generative artificial intelligence “for years.”

Potential launch date

Both The Information and analyst Jeff Pu claim that Apple will have some kind of generative AI feature available on the ‌iPhone‌ and the iPad around the end of 2024, when iOS 18 is released.

Pu said in October that Apple would build several hundred artificial intelligence servers in 2023, with even more coming in 2024. Apple will reportedly offer a combination of cloud AI and AI with on-device processing.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in August that there is “no indication” that generative AI technology will arrive in 2024 and said that Apple's work on generative artificial intelligence “lags significantly behind the competition.”