Apple must announce big things around artificial intelligence during the WWDC 2024 conference. The company could be tempted to transform the meaning of the acronym AI on this occasion, to talk about (Apple) Intelligence.
How can we talk about artificial intelligence, but without doing like everyone else? This is the question that seems to have occupied the minds at Apple quite a bit, no doubt keen not to do like Google during its I/O conference. Indeed, the internet giant has not stopped pronouncing the acronym “AI”, to the point of absurdity.
As Apple’s WWDC conference kicks off on June 10, it seems that the Cupertino company has found a ploy to mention AI in an original way. By playing on the first letter of its name, the company could reinvent the acronym so that it means Apple Intelligence. This is the idea mentioned by Bloomberg in its June 7 edition.
It is assumed that the 2024 WWDC edition will be very marked by artificial intelligence. Compared to other heavyweights like Google, Microsoft, Amazon or Meta (Facebook), the company led by Tim Cook seemed to stand still, where all the others have not stopped announcing all kinds of things since the appearance of ChatGPT, end of 2022.
In recent weeks, the clues have multiplied. In April, Apple released OpenELM, an open source language model that is used to operate generative AI (typically, a chatbot). In a tweet, Greg Joswiak, vice president of marketing, speaks of an “Absolutely Incredible” WWDC. The same initials as those of the AI.
There is also talk of a secret agreement with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. This deal would serve to replace Siri with the most recent version of the conversational agent or, at a minimum, to offer it as an alternative. This agreement could be revealed at WWDC, with entry into force with the next iOS 18 for iPhone.
The idea of a partnership between Google and Apple was also put forward, with the former making its generative artificial intelligence tools such as Gemini available to the latter. This prospect is, however, less certain. If the two parties agree, this association would only materialize later, while certain details are resolved.
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Reinventing the AI acronym to talk about Apple’s capabilities
Apple could thus mention AI as artificial intelligence when it discusses its agreements with Google and OpenAI and use the variant of AI to talk about Apple intelligence when mentioning its internal solutions (the company would thus have plans in the long term to rely only on its strengths).
The lead put forward by journalist Mark Gurman, generally very well informed about the group’s projects, is all the more plausible since Apple has historically tended to not want to name things like everyone else. For example, Apple will talk about spatial computing rather than mixed reality, regarding the Vision Pro.
We also see this on the screen side. The LCD is a Liquid Retina from the consumer electronics giant. We will talk about Super Retina HD instead of OLED. The variable refresh rate becomes ProMotion. No question of saying Gorilla Glass: it will be Ceramic Shield. And the matte coating turns into nano-textured glass.
Previously, Apple stood out for its refusal to mention AI during WWDC 2023 (before cracking down a bit at a later keynote, in May). The company has certainly talked about artificial intelligence, but using technical and precise vocabulary: “neural engine”, “machine learning” and “transformer model”, among others.
We will therefore not really be surprised if Apple tries to do with AI what it is already doing with mixed reality or screens, to stand out from its rivals and give the impression that it is building something else. This, even though the profile of announcements expected from June 10 should still be similar to what everyone is already doing.
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