Apple hires for the future in artificial intelligence push
APPLE has ramped up its hiring of artificial intelligence experts, recruiting from PhD programmes, posting dozens of job listings and greatly increasing the size of its AI staff, a review of hiring sites suggests and numerous sources confirm.
The goal is to challenge Google in an area the internet search giant has long dominated: smartphone features that give users what they want before they ask.
As part of its push, the company is trying to hire at least 86 more employees with expertise in the branch of artificial intelligence known as machine learning, according to the recent analysis of Apple job offers. The company has also stepped up its courtship of machine learning PhDs, joining Google, Amazon, Facebook and others in a fierce contest.
But some experts say the iPhone maker’s strict stance on privacy is likely to undermine its ability to compete in the rapidly progressing field.
Crunching data
Machine learning – which helps devices infer from experience what users are likely to want next – relies on crunching vast troves of data to provide unprompted services, such as the scores of a favourite sports team or reminders of when to leave for an appointment based on traffic.
The larger the universe of users giving data about their habits, the better predictions can be about what a person may want. But Apple analyses its users’ behaviour under selfimposed constraints to protect their data from outsiders.
That means Apple largely relies on analysing the data on each user’s iPhone rather than sending it to the cloud, where it can be studied alongside information from millions of others.
Apple has not been at the vanguard of machine learning and artificial intelligence but that is changing
“They want to make a phone that responds to you very quickly without knowledge of the rest of the world,” said Joseph Gonzalez, the co-founder of Dato, a machine learning start-up. “It’s harder to do that.”
The tech titan’s strategy will come into clearer focus today, when it is expected to reveal its new iPhones and latest mobile operating system, iOS 9. Apple has promised the release will include a variety of intelligent reminders, which analysts expect will rival the offerings of Google’s Android.
Digital assistants
While Apple helped pioneer mobile intelligence – its Siri introduced the concept of a digital assistant to consumers in 2011 – the company has since lost ground to Google and Microsoft, whose digital assistants have become more adept at learning about users and helping with daily routines.
As users increasingly demand phones that understand them and tailor services accordingly, Apple cannot afford to let the gap persist, say experts. The iPhone generated almost two-thirds of Apple’s revenue in the most recent quarter, so even a small advantage for Android poses a threat.
While Apple got off to a slow start on hiring for machine-learning jobs, it was closing in on its competitors, said Oren Etzioni, the chief executive of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
“In the past, Apple has not been at the vanguard of machine learning and cuttingedge artificial intelligence work but that is changing.“
Apple does not reveal the number of people working on its machine learning efforts.
But some machine learning experts might be enticed by the challenge of matching Google with privacy constraints, said John Duchi, an assistant professor at Stanford University.
And if Apple succeeds without compromising privacy, its rival may face questions about its approach to data.
“People may start to ask Google for more privacy,” said Gonzalez. – Reuters