Apple is set to bet big on artificial intelligence (AI) as it plans to invest a total of $50 million on licensing millions of photos from Shutterstock, the leading provider of stock photos. That is to say, Apple’s intention to add an AI assistant to its iOS apps put all the major media companies on the Internet on notice and propelled the company to the leading position.
While Google, Amazon, and Meta are known to use Shutterstock image libraries in their respective systems that are based on visual AI, the spirit and direction of this investment are the same. Apple developers will be meeting in June to give more details about what the company plans to launch. It could become an AI store with mobile applications for iPhone users.
While there have been rumors about the anticipated production of an AI-powered chatbot, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed that they are probably focusing on using AI to enhance the capabilities of certain services like Siri and predictive text. It is the AI processing on the device that favors Apple’s privacy efforts for users.
Still, the fact that Apple is negotiating media content licensing shows the direction AI will take in the living room. At this point, Gurman believes we would have considered developing chatbots for Apple in conjunction with Google or an OpenAI partnership. Nonetheless, the conversations that could arise if Apple opens up the Siri API are still a reason to be patient and wait for the homegrown Apple chatbot.
In the next few weeks, WWDC will make it possible to check how accurately Apple predicts the future state of affairs. Apple is going to become smart! It’s either a highly personalized and accurate Siri or a full-fledged artificially intelligent application store that can also be a revolutionary chatbot. This huge investment shows the extent to which Apple is moving towards an intelligent user experience.
