Apple and the curious case of 'skipping' the hottest buzzword in tech

Aabhas Sharma / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Sep 13, 2023, 07:12 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

During Apple's recent iPhone launch event, the company did not mention artificial intelligence (AI) even once, unlike other tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. Although Apple uses AI in its devices, it prefers to refer to it as machine learning and focuses on how it works in the background. Apple's avoidance of explicitly mentioning AI could be a deliberate move to avoid any negative associations or skepticism surrounding the technology.

Apple and the curious case of 'skipping' the hottest buzzword in tech

Trust Apple to not follow the herd. The iPhone launch event is arguably the most watched tech event of the year. Millions tune in to see what Apple has up its sleeve and that’s a readymade audience that follows every word the folks from Cupertino utter. Yet, in the 87-minute keynote, Apple didn’t mention AI or artificial intelligence even once. Compare it with other tech giants.

Microsoft can’t stop talking about it. Google doesn’t miss a beat to mention it either. Meta gets in overdrive mode talking about AI. Even Amazon drops it wherever it can. It’s not as if Apple is averse to AI or not using it. In fact, artificial intelligence powers some of the coolest features that Apple showed in its devices. And that has been the case for many years now.
Apple’s ‘aversion' to talk about AI
Apple likes to use the term machine learning more than artificial intelligence. At WWDC 2023, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives didn’t mention AI even once during the event. Apple’s approach to AI is more about how it works in the background. If at all, the company has to tout an AI-powered feature, it uses machine learning rather than AI.
The other reason is that other tech companies have made a massive pivot towards AI. Microsoft in Edge browser, Bing Search, Windows 11, and so on. Google in Gmail, Docs, and Search is becoming more AI-oriented. Apple hasn't and still remains more of a hardware company. More than 40% of its revenue still comes from the iPhone.

Back in May, Cook said, “We view AI as huge and we’ll continue weaving it in our products on a very thoughtful basis.” Apple is making Siri smarter on the Watch Series 9 and Ultra and it’s nothing but AI. Apple still avoids mentioning it and prefers to talk about its machine-learning capabilities.
Apple is letting the AI do all the cool things in its hardware and software. However, it just doesn’t want to talk about it in the same way as others. It could be a deliberate move as all association with AI isn’t seen as positive. There’s a sense of skepticism around it or even there might be an element of fear. Why evoke that when you can avoid seems to be Apple’s mantra.