Just when Siri and Watson are about to face-off to determine who will lord the mobile AI space, here comes another fierce match-up. It involves one half of the previous pair, but this time Apple is going up against Google. Well, not directly as assaulting the search giant, but the world’s strongest brand according to Forbes.com is looking at artificial intelligence to be the key driver of the future. Surprise! Apple’s tilting towards AI and not the next iPhone generations.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is spot on again with his prediction of a strong AI-powered iPhone 45. Well, he would not be the brain behind the company for so many years for nothing. But while he is looking at the seemingly infinite iPhone series, Eric Jackson of Forbes.com looks at using AI to piece together all Apple devices with man’s interests and data to set up a choir and make them sing together. He went as far as emission of holograms in front of us and using a person’s interests to dictate the content of programs that will be reflected on HD screens. Woz and Jackson’s insights met on the lane where Siri will be man’s ultimate bestfriend and will know more about you more than your spouse.

The last 5 years, in terms of marketability and world’s favoritism, Apple’s winning it all. This it has been said that we are living in an iPhone generation. I may not be able to go deep beyond the happenings of mid-80’s, from what I can recall, I’d agree in the last statement. But, what I am more excited about is that moment when something, someone or some people truly serve Apple a run for its money. Samsung S3’s almost there, almost. IBM’s a good pick too. However, the company will have to gamble first on the pocket-size industry where they are not so used to. The Big Blue is widely recognized for businesses around manufacturing, software development, cloud and big data. The stake for who can pin down Apple from up there is not limited to mobile connectivity or gadgets, but it could be a huge deal. With these in mind, Google may just have the right mechanisms and enthusiasm to go up against Apple, AI-speaking more importantly.

It is always good to be reminded that Google has dedicated research laboratories and facilities intended for intense AI researches. These labs have produced uncanny but feasible ideas. The driverless car was given license by states of Nevada and California to drive along the roads after a vehicle test in an unknown territory. The thought of self-driving vehicles was hard to swallow at first. But, as people tend to be more open about the fact that there are and there will be computers who can carry out some tasks for them, these cars can hit the garages pretty soon. How much will it cost, that’s another waiting game for us. Google Glass, a sci-fi project that banners augmented reality features is somewhat similar to Ironman’s Jarvis. Just last week, they have made another innovation and again with the use of AI, improved speech recognition for Google Voice.

Jeff Dean, an engineer helping lead the research at Google, mentions of the using neural networks to put virtual brain technology to work: “Most people keep their model in a single machine, but we wanted to experiment with very large neural networks. If you scale up both the size of the model and the amount of data you train it with, you can learn finer distinctions or more complex features.”

Both companies have been working on the mantra “sky’s the limit”. Well, they could have not reached their status today if not for the risk-takers they are or they used to be. With all that’s been said and done, my heart’s leaning towards the Google direction. Although Apple was reportedly working in wearable computers since 2006 and has won patent to challenge Google Glass, Eric Schmidt’s group has been all out wearing the “so what?!” attitude when it comes to dealing with setbacks and relatively negative opinions about their AI-powered inventions and innovations. I am still not sure if I’d wear those Google Glasses on, but the framework where it is cut out from is something I would buy anytime.

Then again, it could be anyone’s ball game. The defining moments of their undertakings rely on hiring the right and able AI people, data and money—lots of it.

Honeybee Brain in Robots

Looks like the bees will soon be flying with their robot counterparts. Experts at the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex are embarking on an ambitious project to accurately carbon copy honeybee’s brain to advance AI by means of observing the ways animals think. According to the science article, the team of scientists is examining particulars of the brain that govern honeybee’s sophisticated senses of sight and smell.

James Marshall, leading the £1 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project in Sheffield, says, “The development of an artificial brain is one of the greatest challenges in artificial intelligence. So far, researchers have typically studied brains such as those of rats, monkeys and humans, but actually ‘simpler’ organisms such as social insects have surprisingly advanced cognitive abilities.”

This study is aligned with the scientists’ goal to mimic the way animal’s think, pass this on to the robots to perform the same tasks as efficient as the real ones. They want the artificial brain to be used in applications of search and rescue missions and even mechanical pollination of crops—things that the bees are masters of.

The conflicts, the robots—these make AI all the more interesting to follow.