After revealing that Apple’s new R&D facility is going to be constructed in China, Tim Cook has hinted that Japan could be playing a pivotal role in the company’s development of AI. Currently, Siri is the only element of AI the company possesses and in order to transform Apple’s voice assistant into an even better service, or better yet, a product, the company is relying on outside help to make this happen.

Tim Cook’s Leadership Could Help Apple to Upgrade Siri and Make It Even Better From Before – More Products Could Take Advantage of the Voice Assistant

Tim Cook as already stated the significance of AI and how it could be used in more ways than you can possibly imagine:

“AI is horizontal in nature, running across all products, and is used in ways that most people don't even think about. We want the AI to increase your battery life, to recommend music to Apple Music subscribers... [to] help you remember where you parked your car.”

So why exactly has Apple decided to seek the help of Japan? Well, it’s fairly simple; Japan’s history of dealing with robotics is quite legendary, especially when it comes to developing industrial robots. Unfortunately, the state of its AI research remains stagnant. This is because lack of investment in deep learning has forced it to stay like that, but tech giants like Google and Facebook are shifting away from this approach and have decided that heavy research is required in order to develop a more competent AI.

Apple has already been reported to progress in the prototype phase of its unnamed home assistant and will take the fight to the likes of Google Home and Amazon Echo. Unfortunately, the Siri integration will have to be vastly improved in order to make the product successful and that is where Japan’s role comes into existence. In order to make this happen, Japan has just opened a Center for Advanced Integrated Intelligence Research in Tokyo (RIKEN), which specifically aims to develop systems of AI that will be able to solve problems using ‘Big Data’.

おはようございます！???????? pic.twitter.com/s61bSbCwLO

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 12, 2016

Additionally, the development of AI will also bring a slew of options for those who are in possession of iPhones and MacBooks. If Siri is developed further, it could allow users to become more productive by allowing the AI to tackle rudimentary tasks, be it at work, or at the comfort of their home. Using Siri myself, I have to admit it is extremely helpful, but with a few more tweaks, it can become a very helpful assistant? What are your thoughts on the matter? Tell us right away.

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