Apple Intelligence will lean on other AI programs for help, and that means a partnership with a longtime rival is coming as well.
Key Takeaways
- Apple Intelligence leans on OpenAI and could lean on Gemini to enhance Siri.
- Google Gemini partnership could improve writing accuracy and search results.
- Integration between Apple Intelligence and Google Gemini remains unclear for now.
When Apple officially announced plans to roll out an AI offering at WWDC, the company made it clear that it wasn’t reinventing the wheel. Instead of creating its own totally new artificial intelligence solution, Apple Intelligence will instead lean on OpenAI to help power and improve Siri.
While GPT-4o is a big part of the backbone of Apple Intelligence, it turns out it won’t be the only service Apple plans to lean on to make Siri a best-in-service personal assistant. Tim Cook and company are likely going to partner with one of the tech giant's biggest rivals when it moves to incorporate Google Gemini.
Apple Intelligence and Gemini as chief researcher
Making sure writing matches tone is key
Apple made it clear in its WWDC presentation that with Apple Intelligence, it wants to make sure its AI offers a little bit of everything. However, a key focus regarding what this feature will do is make sure that when you write a note, an email, or even an article, things look and feel right. A big part of looking and feeling right is ensuring what you write is accurate and up to date. It certainly seems like Google Gemini is capable of fitting that bill better than most.
Obviously, ChatGPT can also proofread and serve as a research assistant, but in order for Apple to get its own Artificial Intelligence up and running, it will lean on more than one service to get the right answer and the correct information as quickly as possible.
What better company to turn to when searching the web than Google? The search giant, (once it irons out Google Gemini for search) is the king of finding the right answer to life’s questions.
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Choosing a search AI
Just how integrated does integration mean?
When deducing just how Google Gemini will integrate with Siri, notes, and photos, it’s not clear that even Apple knows how exactly it will work. As TechCrunch points out, while Apple SVP Craig Federighi confirmed plans to use other third-party AI services, he doesn't explain how or when.
“We’re looking forward to doing integrations with other models, including Google Gemini, for instance, in the future,” Federighi said, adding there’s no official announcement just yet. With Apple Intelligence being announced just a few hours prior, that’s not a surprise.
Apple did explain that when using Siri, a question or search that you ask the digital personal assistant can be routed to GPT-4o, but it will ask users before it sends the query to the third-party provider. It stands to reason that if and when other outside companies are integrated, there might even be a question asking which service the user would like the question to get sent to.
While that sounds like an extra step that some might look down on, it’s already coming with ChatGPT, and deciding to send precise info to one provider or another could end up meaning that users get more accurate results.
More up-to-date Apple Intelligence info could come from Gemini
ChatGPT has one big weakness
When it comes to trusting one AI service over another, OpenAI beats Google simply because ChatGPT has been available to the public longer. However, there is one area where even GPT-4o can fall short, and that’s very recent news and information. When ChatGPT first rolled out, its database only went up to 2019 or 2020. GPT-4o is more recent, but it still has gaps in the results it returns if a user is looking for something that just happened.
This is where Google Gemini could step in. Whether talking about a text search, an image search, or any other kind of information or personal assistant help, adding this other third-party company could ensure that nothing is missed and any gaps are covered.
Image search seems better suited for Google
Google can do some things better than OpenAI
Apple made it clear that image search will be available through Siri and ChatGPT, but it stands to reason that if it incorporates another third-party company like Google, it would be because it feels that the company can do things better than OpenAI. It’s not difficult to imagine that Gemini will allow Apple Intelligence to search the web for a photo quite well.
Google’s image search is also incredibly powerful. Users could take pictures of someone or something and ask for various types of information well before the public had any inkling about Gemini. With the powerful search functions that Gemini will take advantage of as it ages and improves, Apple Intelligence could lean on the service specifically for better image search.
Until Cook and Federighi share more information regarding how Apple plans to use other third-party providers to improve Apple intelligence, how everything will integrate is still a series of question marks. But there are definitely some common-sense uses and reasons for Apple's plans.
