Apple Formally Announced as 'Partnership on AI' Founding Member

Friday January 27, 2017 5:59 AM PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has formally joined the Partnership on AI as a founding member, confirming an earlier report, the organization announced today.
Apple has joined the Partnership on AI as a founding member. The company has been involved and collaborating with the Partnership since before it was first announced and is thrilled to formalize its membership alongside Amazon, Facebook, Google/DeepMind, IBM, and Microsoft.
Siri co-founder Tom Gruber, who heads advanced development of the assistant at Apple, will serve on the Partnership's inaugural Board of Trustees.

iOS-9-Siri
The Partnership on AI is a non-profit research consortium established in September to "study and formulate best practices, to advance the public's understanding of AI, and to serve as an open platform for discussion and engagement about AI and its influences on people and society," according to its website.

Apple has always been notoriously secretive, but it recently started allowing its AI and machine learning researchers to publish papers. The company's contributions to the broader artificial intelligence research community could help it attract top talent that would not otherwise want to join the tech giant.

Apple has been recruiting talent and acquired several AI-related companies in recent months, including Turi, VocalIQ, Perceptio, and Emotient, to build out its in-house AI team led by Carnegie Mellon professor Russ Salakhutdinov.

Apple is rumored to be working on "enhanced" Siri capabilities for next-generation iPhones to keep up with competitors such as Amazon's Alexa.

Tag: artificial intelligence
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rajat8676
40 months ago
I knew it! Siri will take over the world. Someone from future will come anytime now to destroy Siri :D
Rating: 2 Votes
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Relentless Power
40 months ago

I don't debate that Siri is a little behind Google in this category. What I don't like is how people portray it as if Siri is a decade behind and can do nothing Google can. The two can still almost do the exact same stuff. Google is much more like a real conversation and can break down what you are wanting it to do a little better. Reading complains on here you would think Google Voice can go make you a sandwich if you ask it, all while Siri can't even set an alarm for you.


Agreed. I still use Siri regularly for many tasks. The only issue I have with Siri at the moment, is dictation. A lot of times I'll say A word and she can't decipher what I'm saying, even if I slow down and pronounce it properly. Then I tried Google voice, and it's almost immediate and the results are instant.

The Primary focus I think for Siri to improve is deciphering, dictation and speed of displaying the results.
Rating: 2 Votes
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chr1s60
40 months ago
I just hope this can help lead to a better Siri in one way or another. I'm sick of seeing people complaining about how far behind Siri is despite many of the competitors not being a whole lot better.
Rating: 1 Votes
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thisisnotmyname
40 months ago
how can you be a founding member when you join six months after the org exists?
Rating: 1 Votes
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chr1s60
40 months ago

I think the bigger changes for Siri are coming. I do agree there's quite a few complaints that I have read, but complaints that really seem to be valid about Siri. I think a lot of users have faith in Siri, they just want to see the necessary changes with deciphering and dictation.

The only competitor that I can think of is Google voice at the moment. Mainly it's ability to easily decipher what you're saying and the speed of the results that you're looking to search for. I've been fairly impressed with it. Even though I use Siri as my primary.


I don't debate that Siri is a little behind Google in this category. What I don't like is how people portray it as if Siri is a decade behind and can do nothing Google can. The two can still almost do the exact same stuff. Google is much more like a real conversation and can break down what you are wanting it to do a little better. Reading complains on here you would think Google Voice can go make you a sandwich if you ask it, all while Siri can't even set an alarm for you.
Rating: 1 Votes
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