It seems that Apple wants to get away from the bad reputation that revolves around the concept of artificial intelligence, avoiding naming it during its event, although be careful, this has not been the only trend that it has left aside.
As many of you already know, Apple’s brand new WWDC 23 took place yesterday, in which it presented great innovations such as its new Vision Pro glasses or the new iOS 17 —among many other things— and something that has particularly attracted the attention of many is that during the presentations the use of the word “AI” was avoided at all times, although “Metaverse” did not appear anywhere either.
For example, the term “machine learning” was used 7 times at the WWDC 23 event and to mention that precisely AI is nothing more than machine learning. Creating iPad lock screens through LivePhoto uses “an advanced machine learning model,” Apple software chief Craig Federighi said.
On the other hand, Apple even had the opportunity to say that the Vision Pro headphones are powered by artificial intelligence. Instead he said, “it uses an advanced encoder-decoder neural network.”
Regarding this mixed reality device, It seems obvious that it is also going to form part —in the not too distant future— of the well-known metaverse. However, he also did not want to use this concept during the event.
“Autocorrect is powered by on-device machine learning, and over the years we’ve continued to improve these models. The keyboard now leverages a transformer language model, which is the latest in word prediction, making autocorrect more precise than ever. And with the power of Apple Silicon, the iPhone can run this pattern every time you press a key,” Federighi explained.
The concept of ‘AI’ is scary and that of the ‘Metaverse’ is associated with a declining sector
Taking into account all the comments, one thing seems clear: the concept of “artificial intelligence” continues to generate some fear or concern in some people due to its association with automation and job loss.
As for Apple, it is true that the company has shown a more cautious stance in the implementation of AI compared to some of its competitors such as Google. This may be due to its focus on the privacy and data security of its users, as well as its philosophy of creating products that are easy for the general public to use and understand.
Regarding the concept of “Metaverse”, this term refers to a shared virtual space in which people can interact with an immersive virtual reality. Although it sounds exciting and promising in terms of entertainment and communication possibilities, it is still in an early stage of development and there are many technical and ethical challenges to be addressed.
Tim Cook knows that millions of users are concerned about their privacy in a world where almost every tech company is focusing almost 100% on AI and the metaverse and it seems obvious that he wants to remove the most worrying points of these concepts from his products like the iPhone or the new Vision Pro.