Apple has been criticized for its progress in artificial intelligence, with the tech giant said to be lagging behind smaller startups such as OpenAI. The tech giant will reportedly launch some AI-focused services later this year, but the company appears to already be leveraging AI, but not in its products.
Instead, Cupertino CEO Tim Cook said the company is using the technology to achieve its sustainability goals, such as recycling and achieving carbon-neutral status. According to AppleInsider, Cook said this while speaking at a conference in China on reducing carbon emissions. At the conference, the CEO talked about how artificial intelligence can be used to achieve environmental goals through over-recycling.
"Without AI, we wouldn't be able to recycle materials the way we do today. I mean, it's become the basis of our [business] calculations. I think it provides a tremendous tool and toolkit for every company that wants to be carbon neutral or significantly lower their emissions."
While Apple didn't delve into how AI will help improve the company's recycling processes, that information may be of little value to people because the technology is being used to achieve the company's personal goals, which typically wouldn't be a priority for other companies. As for users, they may get to experience the company's AI work later this year, with a preview likely to be provided during the WWDC2024 keynote. Apple is said to be developing a chatbot similar to ChatGPT, which is called 'AppleGPT' internally.
In addition, it is said that the company will also upgrade the microphones of the iPhone 16 series, which will improve the series’ artificial intelligence capabilities in accurately processing voice commands. As for on-device AI, Apple has been investigating how to use NAND flash memory to run large language models, rather than RAM.