Apple CEO Tim Cook Stresses the Importance of AI and AR
Apple's future products are going to rely heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR), according to CEO Tim Cook. In fact, according to Cook, AI and AR lie at the core of Apple's business.
AI will make this product even more essential to you.
- Tim CookCook's comments came in a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post (via AppleInsider), in which he discussed the importance of both areas of Apple's business. “Look at the core technologies that make up the smartphone today and look at the ones that will be dominant in smartphones of the future – like AI,” he explained in the interview, which was published on Aug. 12. “AI will make this product even more essential to you,” he added.
Though Apple has been improving Siri, the virtual assistant continues to face stiff competition from third-party rivals (like Google, and Amazon's Alexa). But the Siri of tomorrow, Cook explained, will do a lot more than the virtual assistants of today:
It will become even a better assistant than it is today. So where you probably aren't leaving home without it today — you're really going to be connected to it in the future. That level of performance is going to skyrocket.
Concerning Apple's interest in AR, the CEO noted, “I think AR is extremely interesting and sort of a core technology. So, yes, it's something we're doing a lot of things on behind that curtain that we talked about,” he added. AR would fit most elegantly into an Apple-developed car – something which the company is said to be working on in two different countries. However, Apple could also be planning an AR headset-style product, similar to Google Glass or the Oculus Rift.
It'll be years before we see Cook's comments come into fruition, though that doesn't make hearing about them any less interesting or exciting. For more information, check out The Washington Post's entire piece, which is definitely worth a read.
