Why hasn't Apple released any chatbots?

It’s a mystery why Apple hasn’t released any chatbots to the public. It could be a lack of internal focus, an inability to access the right talent, or a philosophical decision.

New generative AI-powered chatbots seem to come out every week. OpenAI released its GPT-4 version of ChatGPT in November last year, followed by Microsoft’s souped-up Bing in February and Google’s Bard this month. Even Snapchat is getting involved with its My AI technology.

However, the world’s biggest company, Apple, remains strangely silent. The multi-trillion-dollar behemoth still hasn’t released a chatbot of its own.

But why?

Superficially, it seems strange. Apple released its Siri voice assistant in 2008, just a few months after Steve Jobs famously unveiled the first iPhone. Since then, the Cupertino-based technology firm has repeatedly told investors that AI would be a “major focus.”

But what AI means to Apple is different from what AI means to most other Silicon Valley firms.

The problem is this: Apple’s AIs use a programmed approach, similar to our live chat tool for website owners. Engineers insert millions of lines of code into the software, aiming to get it to provide helpful answers most of the time.

However, Siri’s user experience is sub-par. If you ask how to make a delicious chocolate cake, it’ll simply forward answers from the web. By contrast, OpenAI’s ChatGPT (and now Bing) will provide detailed instructions like a person, tailored to the precise query.

For instance, here’s an example of what happens when you ask ChatGPT how to make a delicious cake:-

“Making a delicious chocolate cake is easy and fun. You just need some basic ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs, butter, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix them together in a large bowl and pour the batter into a greased cake pan. Bake it in a preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy your yummy cake with some whipped cream or ice cream on top.”

Some commentators believe Apple is working feverishly behind the scenes to bring its own generative AI chatbot to the market. However, that also seems unlikely. According to Elon Musk, Google and OpenAI now control most of the world’s AI talent, meaning that if Apple does have an in-house team, they are probably the dregs.

Apple’s ethos on privacy is also different from most other companies in the AI space, which could be slowing development. CEO Tim Cook regularly argues in favour of security and managing data flows, whereas large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, require vast troves of user data to work, which is not the same as live chat for website owners.

Publicly, Apple is also moving in a different direction. It is working on promoting its new augmented reality products, such as room scanning and body monitoring. As such, jumping on the AI bandwagon would seem a little jarring and awkward at this point.

With that said, the company is well-known for working secretly on projects and then revealing them to the public in dramatic fashion. That was its approach with the iPod, iPad, and iPhone, and it may be the case with AI. We will just have to wait and see.