It seems that Apple is pushing towards enhancing its AI products, such as Siri and committed to keeping up with the competition.
Falling Behind
Apple seems to have fallen behind in the race as far as Artificial Intelligence or Virtual Assistants are concerned. It seems that now the company is trying hard to enhancing existing AI products like Siri.
Latest Hiring
Apple has recently hired Russ Salakhutdinov, who is a professor at the Carnegie Mellon University. Russ will lead the Artificial Intelligence team and will be its director. Salskhutdinov has made the announcement in Twitter and seems to be excited at the prospect. He has also posted a link for job listing in Twitter, enquiring about people who would be interested in assisting him as part of his team. They can go to the Apple website and make applications.
It is expected that the team headed by Salakhutdinov will work alongside the Turi division, which was recently created, and also with other Siri teams and teams connected with core services.
Recent Purchases
Apple has recently gobbled or purchased VocallQ, Coherent Navigation, Semetric, Tuplejump and Perceptio among others. All this is probably being done to stay ahead in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, along other such new technologies that Tim Cook feels will be an integral part of the amazing future.
Privacy and Secrecy
However, Apple is known for its secrecy and privacy policy and has been frequently criticized for it. This policy of secrecy could b prove to be an obstacle in the future years. What is needed is a more open approach.
Apple’s Answer to Samsung’s Viv
Apple is answering Samsung’s acquirement of Viv with its hiring of Russ Salakhutdinov. The professor is, however, not yet giving up the schoolwork, so he might be publishing his research works alongside upgrading the iPhone or the Macbook. It is not certain as to what he will actually be working on at Apple, but Recode states that the professor’s recent works are connected with understanding context behind a question.
Big Impact on Siri Expected
Siri has lately come in for a lot of criticism for its slow evolution, especially when compared with the Google Assistant. The hiring of the professor could make a huge impact on Siri and Siri might be able to have a better understanding of questions and also at handling follow up queries or questions that are not so explicit.
Voice Commands and More
However, it has to be said that AI used by Apple is not concerned with voice commands alone. The iOS 10 makes use of machine learning in the face recognition and object recognition features of the Photos application. It is possible that Salakhutdinov might be able to exert his influence on various products and features, making Apple’s claim of considering Artificial Intelligence its key ingredient true in the near future.
Is Carnegie Mellon Happy?
It is doubtful that the school is happy with this poaching. Earlier, Uber had poached from its robotics laboratory. Now, Apple is trying to lure in one of its top talents. It could be a good thing for Apple and for the growth of Artificial Intelligence, but might limit academics in the field to a certain extent.