AI supporters and sceptics alike have been looking for the technology’s watershed moment — the development that solidifies the usefulness of large language models to businesses or consumers and finally puts some heft behind surging AI valuations. Enterprise AIs have been rolled out, but it remains unclear how the technology will lift bottom lines. Consumer applications have been experimental and limited.
To many, the most fitting consumer use would be as a personal assistant embedded in a smartphone. So it was only natural that Apple, maker of the iPhone and its “digital assistant” Siri, announced its own AI personal assistant this week. Other AI players are heading in that direction, too. Google unveiled its AI assistant Astra last month, and OpenAI has been focused on making its model more consumer-friendly.
It is tempting to say that latecomer Apple’s entry into the AI race is the long-sought turning point. The tech behemoth’s large share of the smartphone market, its loyal buyers and its strong inter-device networks could make the company the logical consumer leader. Its strengths might be enough to usher in the age of AI transformation, after the current period of AI hype.