While OpenAI is on its way to becoming the new Apple, Apple itself should be more receptive to collaborations, particularly with the hottest AI startup, to unlock a new era of applications and features.

By now, most of you are already aware of users using the Action button as a ChatGPT shortcut. While this feature is possible only in the latest models of iPhones, namely the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, a lot of iPhone users are trying to connect ChatGPT with Siri, but only to get disappointed.

Siri is good, but the new ChatGPT Voice feature (which includes diverse voices like Ember, Sky, Breeze and Cove) is way better, user friendly, and engaging. It’s high time Apple gave users the option to shift to ChatGPT Voice, and make use of OpenAI’s technology prowess, while the Apple engineering team continues to make Siri better.

Recently, OpenAI made ChatGPT Voice assistant free and made it available to all the users across the world. A user from X suggested that this could be the ‘HER’ moment, drawing inspiration from a science fiction film where an AI assistant took on the role of the protagonist. 

“Putting in my ear bud, opening up the ChatGPT Voice assistant and asking it to teach me about philosophy or provide product strategy feedback… I find myself walking around my room, conversing with this AI and finding it to be a meaningful, useful back-and-forth dialogue,” he shared. 

Prior to the introduction of ChatGPT’s voice assistant, Apple’s Siri held the position as the go-to tool for voice commands. However, recently, users have expressed frustration with its performance, finding it less satisfactory.

Collaborating with OpenAI can also give Apple an edge over Google Assistant, where the team is already in works to integrate powerful AI models to make it more diverse and have open-ended conversations with the users – similar to ChatGPT Voice assistant. 

Apple should start using OpenAI models

Back in July, reports surfaced that Apple had developed its own large language model called Ajax and deployed an internal chatbot named “Apple GPT” to test its functionality. However, since then, there have been no signs of an imminent chatbot release.

According to recent reports, Apple is investing millions of dollars in research and development to enhance the conversational features of Siri. Although Apple is making efforts, the results are not visible yet.

So, while Microsoft is making great strides by utilising OpenAI’s models across clouds and copilots, it’s high time that Apple too embraced them to stay relevant in the market. 

With the recent release of the Humane Ai Pin, started by former Apple engineers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, and backed by Sam Altman, has been working closely with OpenAI to bring ambient computing to life. Many believe that it could reduce the reliance on smartphone usage, paving the way for next-gen computing. 

The next Blackberry? 

Anticipations are high that Apple will introduce an upgraded version of Siri in iOS 18 and other operating systems next year. iOS 18 holds particular significance for Apple, speculated to introduce generative AI capabilities as the company aims to catch up with industry leaders like OpenAI and Google.

Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman has suggested that iOS 18 will incorporate generative AI technology to boost Siri and the Messages app’s capabilities in answering questions and auto-completing sentences. Apple is also reportedly considering generative AI for apps like Apple Music, Pages, Keynote, and Xcode. 

While Apple is making a push to emerge on the winning side of generative AI, it should accept the fact that in the past year, OpenAI has raced ahead and taken the lead. The capabilities which Apple is aiming for with generative AI might appear insignificant in front of GPT-4 or GPT-4 Turbo. 

Since Apple is already known for its collaborations, a partnership with OpenAI would be one of its biggest, unlike anything the world has ever seen. Unless, of course, Apple prefers to follow the Blackberry route.