Apple Plans To Reveal More About The Use Of Generative AI

JAKARTA - Apple's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, said at the company's annual meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, February 28 that the company plans to reveal more about its plans to use further generative artificial intelligence this year.

Cook stated that the iPhone maker sees "an extraordinary breakthrough potential for generative artificial intelligence. That's why we are currently making significant investments in this field. We believe that it will open up transformational opportunities for users in terms of productivity, problem solving, and others," he said.

Apple has been slower in implementing generative artificial intelligence, which can generate human-like responses to written orders, compared to competitors like Microsoft and Google, which have integrated them into their products.

Cook argues that artificial intelligence is already working behind the scenes in Apple products, but says there will be more news about the explicit artificial intelligence feature later this year. Previously, Bloomberg reported that Apple planned to use artificial intelligence to improve the searchability of data stored on Apple devices.

Apple's shareholders on Wednesday rejected a proposal to disclose more information about how the company uses artificial intelligence in its business and ethical guidelines for the technology.

The proposal, which was not approved but received 37.5% of the votes, was submitted by AFL-CIO pension trust, America's largest trade union federation, which has also proposed steps related to artificial intelligence in other technology companies.

"Compared to other leading technology companies, Apple has been left behind in disclosing ethical guidelines regarding the use of artificial intelligence," Brandon Rees, deputy director for the company and capital market with AFL-CIO, said in a statement. "We hope that Apple will increase their disclosure of this important issue to investors and other stakeholders."

A similar proposal will be heard at Walt Disney's annual meeting in April.

At Apple, AFL-CIO asked for a report on the use of the company's artificial intelligence "in its operations and disclosed any ethical guidelines the company has adopted regarding the use of the company's artificial intelligence technology."

In a statement of support in Apple's proxy material, AFL-CIO writes that "artificial intelligence systems should not be trained on copyright-protected works, or voices, faces, and performances of professional players, without transparency, approval, and compensation to creators and rights holders."

Apple opposed the proposal, saying that the disclosure could provide clues about the company's strategy when competing with competitors in the field of fast-moving artificial intelligence.