Earlier this week we heard news from Mark Gurman about Apple’s plans to enter the world of robotics, with products designed to “solve first world problems”. In addition to that, Gurman claims Apple could utilize generative AI to create a new “personality” for its robot devices. Like Siri, but specifically built for whatever robotic devices Apple cooks up in its labs.
From the sounds of things this wouldn’t be a replacement for Siri, and more like a sibling AI. "While Siri is the digital assistant on Apple's current devices, the company is working on another human-like interface based on generative AI," Gurman said, "It could run on the tabletop product and other future Apple robotics devices, I’m told."
One vital piece of Apple’s robotic work is the creation of a personality. While Siri is the digital assistant on Apple’s current devices, the company is working on another humanlike interface based on GenAI. It could run on the tabletop and other future Apple robotics devices.August 25, 2024
The tabletop device Gurman references here is allegedly the first robotic device Apple is developing. Codenamed J595, this device is said to include cameras and a robotic actuator at the base — while it’s claimed the company will eventually move onto mobile and humanoid robots sometime in the next decade or so.
However we still don’t know many details about these machines, or what they will be able to do. Only that they’re designed to complement the existing Apple ecosystem of phones and computers. Which is why Siri probably isn’t going to be going anywhere. With a brand new subsection of the Apple ecosystem, it makes sense to develop a bespoke AI assistant rather than trying to jerry rig Siri into working across everything. Just as long as the two can communicate, that is.
The question is whether this new AI assistant will be running on ChatGPT, like chatbot features coming to Apple Intelligence later this year, or if Apple will be developing its own chatbot. Seeing as how development on the robots is supposed to be in the very early stages, it would make sense for Apple to push its own services instead of relying on a third party for yet another product.
We’re still a long way off these products getting announced, let alone released, so odds are we won’t be hearing much else about this for a while yet. Though no doubt we’ll be hearing plenty of rumors and leaks in the months and years to come.
In the meantime there's an Apple event confirmed for September 9, and that's going to see the launch of the iPhone 16, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and even more. There may not be any more robots, but at least Apple's giving us plenty to look forward to.
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