- Apple is working on a new AI digital assistant that could power their upcoming robotic devices.
- This AI personality will be similar to Siri but will be able to carry out more complex tasks and natural conversations.
- Apple's robots are still in early stages of development, so we won't see the new AI personality any time soon.
We have already heard that Apple is developing a tabletop home device with a robotic arm, which would mark Apple’s official entry into the robotics market. Now, we have some details on the potential AI assistant. According to the latest reports by Mark Gurman, Apple is working on a human-like interface based on Generative AI that could run the tabletop device and future Apple robotic devices. This Apple AI personality will work similarly to how Siri currently works on an iPhone.
“One vital piece of the 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 generative AI. It could run on the tabletop product and other future Apple robotics devices”- Mark Gurman
At WWDC 2024, Apple finally began its AI journey with Apple Intelligence, which brings a suite of AI features to iPhones, iPads, and Macs. We’ll soon see Writing Tools, a more powerful Siri, ChatGPT integration, and more. In a few weeks, we’ll see these features on every Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone. Apple appears to be all-in for the next-gen AI. So, focusing on a new robot personality that will allow more capable and natural conversations than Siri makes sense.
The robotics industry has a long way to go. There’s a lot of work that Apple and other players can do. Currently, the robots available in the market cost a fortune and don’t pack enough features. On top, there are security and privacy concerns to address. So, Apple has a lot of catching up on its home robots project. Also, a lot of Apple’s AI features will be powered by ChatGPT. So, Apple has a ton of work to do before launching a generative AI of its own.
Gurman added that there’s a lot of promise in Apple’s robotic work and plenty of reasons to be skeptical. After the lackluster sales of Apple Vision Pro and the cancellation of the decade-long Apple Car project, it’s not clear how much the Cupertino tech giant is actually committed to launching something new into the markets. However, if Apple wants to explore another way to consumer’s lives, a home robot makes all the sense.
The reports also suggest that Apple might price its first tabletop robot somewhere in competition with the Amazon Astro. So, we might see a price tag of around $1000. It’s worth knowing that these robotic devices are in the early stages of development. So, there’s no solid evidence or an official statement to make us believe we will ever see them.
