Tim Cook Responds to Rise of ChatGPT, Says AI's Potential is 'Very Interesting'

[MacRumors]

Apple CEO Tim Cook today provided some commentary surrounding artificial intelligence amid the surging popularity of ChatGPT and other chatbots.

Speaking on Apple's quarterly earnings call today, Cook said artificial intelligence's potential is "very interesting," but noted that there are a "number of issues that need to be sorted" out with the technology and that it is "very important to be deliberate and thoughtful" in regards to how artificial intelligence is used.

Cook said Apple has already integrated artificial intelligence and machine learning across several of its products and services, pointing out features like Fall Detection, Crash Detection, and the ECG app on the Apple Watch. He added that Apple will continue to weave artificial intelligence into its products on a "very thoughtful basis."

The New York Times in March reported that excitement surrounding chatbots demonstrates how Siri and other traditional voice assistants have "squandered their lead in the A.I. race," as Siri's functionality remains far more limited than chatbots despite launching over a decade ago. The Information last month reported that Apple employees "widely criticize Siri for its shortcomings" and have proposed large language model improvements that they hope will be ready to launch in an iOS version released next year.

Article Link: Tim Cook Responds to Rise of ChatGPT, Says AI's Potential is 'Very Interesting'

 

[macsplusmacs]

Guess we will see at WWDC.

How many times its mentioned, size (if any) of SiriKit type API additions etc.

 

[F23]

I believe Apple will be very late to the AI game but once it fully commits, the product will be superb.

 

[Art Mark]

OMG...SIRI isn't ChatGPT. And Apple has to evaluate how much of your personal info they want to swallow up. Again - if you let all your personal info get sucked into the data cloud - then it will be more 'helpful'. Until all your personal data is also shared out, copied ETC. Wall Street just got done killing entertainment companies by saying they all needed streaming services. And you know what - they didn't. Ignore the noise. Find uses that people want.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

ChatGPT could be much more reliable than Apple's Siri (Only if it's used right).

It's 2023 and Siri seems to think the question was, "How long ago was the time 20:06? not the year 2006.

Go figure! 🤷

 

[Choco Taco]

ChatGPT could be much more reliable than Apple's Siri. It's 2023 and Siri seems to think the question was, "How long ago was the time 20:06? not the year 2006.

Go figure! 🤷

I mean ... if you ask Siri "how long ago was the year 2006?" ... then you'll get the correct answer. But you'd think Siri would automatically pick up on that.

 

[BGPL]

Siri is extremely limited to the point that it's frustrating. Apple obviously doesn't see the money in improving Siri, because their phones still sell themselves with the way it is. Siri tells me 2-3 times a week that after a text is read on my headphones, she'll listen for a few seconds for a command. In total, I would guess I've heard this "tip" 50+ times. If you call Alexa horrible names, she won't bother you again for the same thing. Siri doesn't seem to be phased by the things I call her.

 

[sw1tcher]

I believe Apple will be very late to the AI game but once it fully commits, the product will be superb.

So Siri is Apple half-arsing it as if it was just a side project?

 

[antiprotest]

I like how when I ask ChatGPT something, it often replies with links that had never existed (I know because I own some of those web sites), with dated and titled WordPress urls. Siri should at least learn to do that.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Siri is extremely limited to the point that it's frustrating. Apple obviously doesn't see the money in improving Siri, because their phones still sell themselves with the way it is. Siri tells me 2-3 times a week that after a text is read on my headphones, she'll listen for a few seconds for a command. In total, I would guess I've heard this "tip" 50+ times. If you call Alexa horrible names, she won't bother you again for the same thing. Siri doesn't seem to be phased by the things I call her.

Siri is frustrating because Apple stopped caring for Siri. Siri has been outdated for a long time and Apple has not worked on it in a while now. At this point, Siri is not even a selling point on iPhones anymore. Those days are long gone.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Very interesting... and absolutely terrifying.

I use chatGBT and it is very interesting... and useful. But the potential for computers to replace humans, for teens and college students to have AI write, or at least write most of, their essays, for creativity to being and end with "Hey ChatGBT, write me a funny story about ..." is terrifying.

Personally, I think the world is better than that but as machine learning gets better, and AI really can write movie scripts, television scripts, create beautiful imagery, etc. I am concerned about the loss of... well our humanity.

Settle down, bro. We still have the upper hand.

 

[mac 2005]

"Very interesting." How insightful. The man heads a Fortune 10 company and can't say anything bold or visionary? Very interesting indeed....

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Imagine if AI starts coding that will spark Tim Cook's interests by a lot higher margin. We ought to get more from Tim Cook than, "Very Interesting".

Imagine if AI starts developing future iOS, mac OS, Watch OS, and so on... the possibilities are endless.

 

[Wildkraut]

I hope he realizes how much Siri sucks!

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I hope he realizes how much Siri sucks!

I don't think he does. In all honestly, Siri died when Steve Jobs passed away and when Jony Ive left Apple. It's embedded on iPhones as a legacy feature now.

 

[Wildkraut]

Imagine if AI starts coding that will spark Tim Cook's interests by a lot higher margin. Imagine if AI starts developing future iOS, mac OS, Watch OS, and so on... the possibilities are endless.

It would for sure write less bugs than their current devs. 🤣

 

[steve123]

Tim has some explaining to do for spending on a VR headset while giving Siri a lobotomy.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I have been using chatgpt and Bard.
ChatGPT is lot of hype, it’s good for basic stuff. But starts hallucinating for anything deep. It’s nightmare to get the code working with non-existant libraries, packages, and some times flawed logic. Provide link to a research paper, ChatGPT provides summary of a non existent paper. Interestingly if you ask a peer reviewed research content, with references. The chaptgpt writes with in text citations and references with Asian sounding non existant names.
Bard is interesting, it has much better code generation capabilities than chatGPT, some times links the code to GitHub repositories of similar packages or logic. And over all better synthesis of research papers, it does say at times, the paper doesn’t exist or can’t generate enough content.

None the less, when the hype dies down, the real winners will emerge.

 

[aidler]

As it stands, Apple can't fail economically, but I think in retrospect this will be seen as a huge mistake in Tim Cook's career.

 

[kingtj1971]

Very interesting... and absolutely terrifying.

I use chatGBT and it is very interesting... and useful. But the potential for computers to replace humans, for teens and college students to have AI write, or at least write most of, their essays, for creativity to being and end with "Hey ChatGBT, write me a funny story about ..." is terrifying.

Personally, I think the world is better than that but as machine learning gets better, and AI really can write movie scripts, television scripts, create beautiful imagery, etc. I am concerned about the loss of... well our humanity.

The thing is? I don't really believe any of these AI programs can do an effective job of writing quality fiction stories, movie or TV scripts, music or anything involving the arts. All of these have more to do with appealing to human emotions than mechanical reproduction.

There are a number of products on the market that claim to be able to compose music if you provide a tempo and a key, and maybe a preferred style. The results? Well, at best, you get something that's technically a song but is probably only useful if you want to lift a random piece out of it that sounds catchy enough, to use in writing your own song. And really, you'd think music would be where an AI would have a better shot than other forms of art. After all, music is all just math, at the end of the day.

There's also a basic formula for writing a story, but it still requires a human to follow it, to make something that a majority of readers or viewers find truly engaging. I mean, there are only a handful of plots out there. But it's everything that's filled in around them that creates the interest. We like colorful characters in stories who say clever or humorous things, act certain ways, and are relatable in some fashion. Everything has to be paced just right, too, and surprise twists are always good. An emotionless AI can't strive for any of this in what it puts together, or even grasp the goal.

I don't think you'll see software any time soon that runs your 3D printer to design original pieces of 3D sculpture/art, for the same reason. Can it be done? Yes. But the results won't be gratifying.

 

[wilhoitm]

All Tim has to do is ask ChatGPT to re-write Siri! 🤣

 

[entropys]

Imagine if AI starts coding that will spark Tim Cook's interests by a lot higher margin. We ought to get more from Tim Cook than, "Very Interesting".

Imagine if AI starts developing future iOS, mac OS, Watch OS, and so on... the possibilities are endless.

the OSs might end up less buggy than at present.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Siri is frustrating because Apple stopped caring for Siri. Siri has been outdated for a long time and Apple has not worked on it in a while now. At this point, Siri is not even a selling point on iPhones anymore. Those days are long gone.

I don’t think SIRI will be Apple’s answer to Generative AI. Apple should start looking at buying companies, or tie up with Elon Musk on the new generative AI. ChatGPT right now is lot of hype, its just the beginning. Not many are talking about Bard, but Google can do lot better than ChatGPT in code generation and research synthesis.

 

[entropys]

There are a number of products on the market that claim to be able to compose music if you provide a tempo and a key, and maybe a preferred style. The results? Well, at best, you get something that's technically a song but is probably only useful if you want to lift a random piece out of it that sounds catchy enough, to use in writing your own song. And really, you'd think music would be where an AI would have a better shot than other forms of art. After all, music is all just math, at the end of the day.

I would think a composer AI shouldn’t have too much trouble, it just needs to know the secret chord:
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor falls, the major lifts
And ChatGTP is composing Hallelujah

 

[toobravetosave]

Chat gpt might not write the best quality thing for you but it’s a great way to get past the blank page problem when you don’t know where or how to start. It’s also fantastic for assembling study materials. Apple should buy an ai company quick and do it better justice than dark sky and siri.