How Apple’s mobile AI chip could create a new level of intelligence

Apple changed the world forever by getting a head-start in artificial intelligence (AI) when it introduced its digital assistant, Siri, in 2011. Now the tech company is reportedly designing a chip that’s being tasked to carry out AI processing on its mobile devices. 

The different angle Apple is shooting for with its Neural Engine is to give it the capability to use AI on the mobile device itself instead of relying on computer servers to process data. Image source: Reuters.

The chip, known as the Apple Neural Engine, has a goal to improve the way the company’s devices handle tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence, such as using facial or speech recognition. A major goal of the company is to add more advanced AI capabilities into its devices and to offload demanding AI processing tasks that can impact battery life.

But this time, Apple isn’t the only one ahead of the curve. The tech giant’s engineers are racing against those at Amazon and Alphabet in the quickly growing field of AI, being that intelligent products such as Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home digital assistants have been quickly deploying.

The different angle Apple is shooting for with its new chip is to give it the capability to use AI on the mobile device itself. Although AI is being used to power digital assistants like Siri, the technology relies on computer servers to process data sent to them rather than the processing happening on the mobile device itself.

Digital assistants, and even augmented reality, aren’t the only applications of AI that will become important on mobile devices. Once the capability becomes available to all mobile application developers, it will bring new capabilities to mobile devices. Health applications, for example, will be able to tell when body readings from sensors on a phone or accompanying wearables are abnormal and require attention. Another hot topic in AI that Apple is focused on is advancing the technology for self-driving vehicles.

Really, the uses are limitless and can bring about an entirely new way in how we rely on applications on our mobile devices. What’s more, they’ll likely work even when the devices aren’t connected to the internet, which could drastically reduce or eliminate the need for such a connection.

Of course, it’s feared that AI could erode humans intelligence. As we continue to heavily rely on smart devices to do things for us, we may lose the ability to maintain specific skills and become overly dependent on machines.

Currently, it’s unclear if the chip will be available this year.