By: Nick Gambino
Just like most tech giants, Apple is going all in on AI. They’re expected to announce new AI features at WWDC on June 10th. This will reportedly include AI-generated emojis.
What exactly are AI-generated emojis? Best guess is it’s some sort of emoji created on the spot to reflect what the user is typing. For example, if you’re chatting with a friend about a movie, your iPhone might suggest including an instantly generated movie-themed emoji.
Like a lot of these Apple rumors, this one comes to us from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. He tends to be pretty spot on when it comes to predictions and is one of the best tech scoops in the biz.
Unfortunately, Gurman didn’t expand much on what these new AI-generated emojis might look like, but if this pans out, we should know in the next two weeks.
Apple’s efforts won’t stop at simple emojis. They’re also aiming their sights on increasing productivity, which means we might see voice memo transcriptions, AI photo edits, increased internet search speed/results and other ways to carry out tasks in the blink of an eye.
WWDC is usually where we get the latest updates on all upcoming software and OS features. WWDC 2024 should be no different. Gurman tells us that we should see a revamped iOS home screen where customization is the name of the game. iPhone users will be able to change the colors of their apps and organize with even more flexibility.
It’s still too early to tell whether AI is simply a passing fad or not. Sure, it’s a convenient tool that can produce lightning-fast results on what would otherwise be a tedious task. But I’m not convinced the general human populace wants to rely on robots to do all the heavy lifting.
I know that might sound incredibly reductive, but I think there’s something to that. Siri has been around for years and is capable of doing a lot, including web searches. But how many people do you know who rely on the digital assistant for more than the one-off question here and there? When we want to research something we fire up Google and do it ourselves.
I think AI is going to be little more than a parlor trick like Siri. That’s my two cents anyways. In the meantime, companies like Apple will continue to double down until it’s no longer fashionable.
