Apple is beefing up its hiring efforts in artificial intelligence and machine learning, according to a latest report from Reuters. The company is going on a recruiting spree and trying to hire at least 86 more employees from these two fields.
Apple is also seeking students fresh from PhD programs, with a view to developing applications that can better predict user’s requirements before they actually ask for it. It is recruiting machine-learning PhD’s with the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook and others. The main aim of the company is to make Siri even smarter in order to compete with Google Now and latest entry in the voice digital assistant market- Microsoft’s Cortana.
Machine learning relies on a vast amount of data to make predictions about what users might want. The report further adds that Apple faces a challenge with machine learning due to its focus on privacy and reluctance to tap into all possible data sources. With an increase in data collected from users personal devices growing rapidly, companies are looking at developing systems that will allow them to leverage this information to deliver more tailored services to their customers.
In addition, Apple is also hiring machine learning experts for divisions such as product marketing and retail, “suggesting a broad-based effort to capitalize on data”, said the report. Apple is expected to announce the new iPhones and new OS tomorrow.