Will Apple launch AI initiatives in WWDC 2024?

According to JP Morgan, the rise of artificial general intelligence has taken the world by storm, estimated to increase global GDP by up to 10%. In fact, the impact of AI goes beyond mere numbers, this technology is affecting every aspect of life. Smartphones are a notable example. Manufacturers are trying to upgrade their latest smartphone models by quickly incorporating AI features.

One of the companies leading this race is Korean technology giant Samsung. Earlier this year, the company released the Galaxy S24 phone, with many new features under the Galaxy AI umbrella. The Pixel 8, Google's latest flagship product, is also equipped with features powered by Gemini Nano, a version of Google's large Gemini AI language model, but adapted for other devices. have a smartphone.

WHO WILL iPHONE 16 INTEGRATE?

In a report by The Wall Street Journal, Apple has held talks with Chinese tech giant, Baidu, about integrating Baidu's AI technology into its devices.

Later, this information was confirmed by the South China Morning Post that Baidu's generative AI model, called Ernie, will be used for Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 and iOS 18, as well as the new MacOS version. best.

However, Ernie will only be used for products distributed in China as Apple plans to use its own AI solutions for devices sold elsewhere in the world, partly to comply with China's AI regulations.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has developed its own large language model (LLM), called Ajax. LLM is said to be the basis of a chatbot called Apple GPT, used only by Apple employees.

TASKS ARE BEING UPGRADED BY APPLE WITH AI

Apple is also working to integrate AI into various applications, features, and services. Although specific information about such developments remains scarce. Bloomberg revealed that Apple can apply AI to improve the following tasks: Auto-summary and auto-completion features for working software such as Apple's word processor, Pages; Creative features for presentations for Keynote presentation software; Creative tools in Xcode, Apple's integrated development environment (IDE) for MacOS; AI-powered playlist creation features in Apple Music; Improvements to digital assistant Siri, including automatic task completion features.

The aforementioned features rely heavily on LLM (like Baidu's Ernie or Apple's Ajax) to function and are remarkably similar to features already introduced by Apple's competitors. For example, Microsoft launched Copilot in early 2023. And this generative AI system has been applied across many different applications, including Microsoft Office products like Word and Powerpoint. Additionally, Microsoft's GitHub runs its own Copilot, which can provide auto-completion suggestions for code. Spotify also has AI-powered playlists through its AI DJ feature.

According to KrAsia, in addition to the above tasks, the cameras of new iPhone versions will be applied with machine learning algorithms, such as depth maps, facial landmark detection and semantic segmentation to achieve many things. photo enhancements, such as isolating subjects and blurring backgrounds.

APPLE WILL 'TOTALLY AMAZE' THE PUBLIC AT WWDC

Two years after ChatGPT put AI on the map, the development of AI technology is unprecedented, leaving Apple behind.

Samsung, the Asian giant, boasts that the Galaxy AI has a plethora of innovative AI features, such as the 'Search Circle' that allows users to follow the request object and get Google search results almost immediately. Additionally, their phone's built-in 'Live Translate' and 'Interpreter' enable real-time language translation from voice calls and texts. Or 'Transcript Assist', another AI feature, can transcribe and summarize audio recordings. Samsung also integrates Grammarly with a 'Chat Support' feature to correct and format intonation in text. Finally, the 'Photo Assist' feature allows users to edit and color composite.

According to observers, Apple seems to be lagging behind in both the variety and quantity of AI features on smartphones:

According to KrAsia, Apple is lagging behind in both the variety and quantity of AI features on smartphones, such as smart photo editing, visual search, text analysis and summarization, direct translation.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's Senior Vice President of Marketing, announced, during WWDC, Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), scheduled to take place from June 10 - June 14, 2024 , will 'Absolutely amaze' the public (he wrote in a post on X) with the company's AI initiatives.

Marvin Fry

Update 12 April 2024