Apple and Google sitting in a tree

Human and Machine Partnership

Over the last few articles we’ve looked at the Google’s Cloud offering. Google offers reliable, scalable, and cost effective storage, cloud computing, A.I tools, and of course search.

Apple manufactures (in my opinion) the most beautiful computers in the world, and with the most elegant Operating System. Apple also offers an A.I solution in Siri, and advanced search search functionality within your device, be it a Mac or mobile device.

Apple, like Google, offers a cloud based storage solution, namely iCloud.

This is my iCloud account, check out the number of new emails! I really need to work on this, where’s David GTD Allen when you need him.

So this article is mainly about Apple, let’s quickly look at Apple’s A.I enabled devices, services, and development tools;

• Siri
• iOS Search bar
• Spotlight on a Mac
• HomeKit
• Turi Create
• Core ML
• HomePod
• iPhone
• iPad
• Mac
• Apple Watch
• Machine Learning : Core ML
• Turi Create
• Core NFC

Computing power needed to power A.I and Storage

Siri, search, and storage, take an enormous amount of processing power and data storage. Does Apple want to invest in facilities to handle such demands? Well, the answer is obviously not.

Google powers both Siri and iCloud storage for Apple. It’s clear that Apple don’t want a, for example, search result to come from their own servers, but instead Google’s servers. Effectively, does this make any difference to the end user experience? Probably not, Google are good at search.

So what is A.I?

Artificial intelligence is intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and other animals.

Stephen Hawking (R.I.P), was very worried about A.I;

“It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate, humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.” – Stephen Hawking 1942 – 2018.

So that’s it, we’re doomed. I’m off to the pub for lunch, “Time is an allusion. Lunchtime doubly so”. – Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

The point to this long preamble is artificial intelligence is here to stay, and will only get, which ever way you look at it, smarter and more intrusive/helpful.

Intrusion, via essentially A.I, has been much in our news recently (time of writing; March 2018). Facebook has been much criticised by concerns about its intrusion into both your and your friends data, and monetising from that data.

Facebook on reflection offers a lot for seemingly nothing, after all it’s free. He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon.

Honey, I’ve lost the room key – Hilton Hotels’ connected door lock system

This boost in A.I, mobile devices, and data gathering has obviously great convenience for us: the consumer. Hilton Hotels are enabling us to open the door to our hotel room with the iPhone, and one wonders if this data is gathered.

This data gathering can be seen, again, as intrusive. If you use Apple Pay on your trip to the hotel, the data can be stored and tell what time you checked in to your hotel room, where you went to eat or drink, and what time you got back to your room.

Does any of this matter?

Apple, to their credit, don’t try to push advertising too crudely (compare that to a low cost Kindle from Amazon). However, now we know Google holds our information and not Apple, who knows?

“It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it” – Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Right, where’s my towel.