According to Bloomberg News,appleThe plan is to close a San Diego-based company with 121 employees.AIThe (AI) team, called Data Operations Annotation, was told last week that it would move to Austin to merge with a similar team. Apple told employees they had a month to decide whether to relocate, and if they chose not to move, they would lose their jobs on April 26, the sources said.
The team's responsibility is to enhance Apple's Siri voice assistant's hearing of user queries and evaluate whether the voice assistant accurately heard and processed the questions. Although voice is one of the "easier ways" for users to interact with AI, there are still some issues, including concerns about privacy, security and the ethical use of voice data.
PYMNTS explored the rise of voice AI in a report last month, noting that 86 million U.S. consumers use voice assistants monthly. However, the report also noted that despite advances in voice AI in terms of conversational realism, some issues remain, including user concerns about privacy, security, and the ethical use of voice data.
According to PYMNTS Intelligence, 63% of consumers would use voice technology if it could be as smart as a human. In addition, 58% said they would use it if it was easier and more convenient than manual operation, and 54% said they would also use it because it was faster than typing or using a touchscreen.
Meanwhile, Apple's threat of layoffs comes as other high-profile companies, such as Google, Amazon, Citigroup, and others, have also announced layoffs. As covered last week, the rise of artificial intelligence has played a role in some corporate layoffs, as the technology can perform tasks usually handled by white-collar workers, causing companies to divert funds toward its development.