Apple buys startup Inductiv to improve Siri

Apple bought Inductiv Inc., a Canadian startup focused on machine learning, to work on Siri, machine learning and data.

Aside from employee profiles on LinkedIn, the startup does not have an Internet presence, but as is known it has developed a technology that uses AI (artificial intelligence) to identify and correct errors in data, which is fundamental for machine learning. machines, an area that falls under the so-called Data Science. 

Apple has been hiring people in this field for years, even though its speech recognition technology, both in terms of performance and reliability, is developing much slower than expected.

For example, in 2018 he hired dozens of engineers from the Data Science company. Additionally, Apple has acquired several other companies related to the field of artificial intelligence and data processing and interpretation, such as Tuplejump, Laserlike, Turi, Perceptio, Voysis, NextVR and the Dark Sky weather forecast app.

Apple is expected to work to significantly improve its AI and voice processing systems, but that's a hope that never seems to materialize.

For example, today we found this comparison of the speed and reliability of voice-to-text translation between a Pixel phone (Google) and an iPhone (Apple).

The confrontation is devastating.

Says the tweet: I don't think people are aware of how different the text-to-speech experience is on a Pixel compared to an iPhone. So here I have put them together so that you can see the example. The Pixel is so immediate that it seems to read my mind.

I don't think people appreciate how different the voice-to-text experience is on a Pixel compared to an iPhone. So here's a little head-to-head example. The Pixel is so responsive it feels like it's reading my mind! pic.twitter.com/zmxTKxL3LB

- James Cham ✍ (@jamescham) May 27, 2020

So we can conclude that Apple is right to keep investing to improve its speech recognition system and expand its reach, because it's one of the few areas where it doesn't seem like a winning bet (despite being a pioneer).