The video of more than a minute, broadcast on American television, caused dismay among designers, visual artists and directors – and among British star actor Hugh Grant. Their comments show that they see the ad as a metaphor for the way big tech companies are increasingly reducing their art and craft to the ones and zeros that allow computers to take over their jobs.
They see the latest technological hype in particular, generative AI (artificial intelligence), as a major threat to human creativity. Anyone can make photos, films and music by simply asking an algorithm in one or two sentences to create an image of the Pope in a puffer jacket, or a film in the style of Quentin Tarantino, or a song that combines the music of Rammstein and Taylor Swift mixes.
Hugh Grant sees in the video “the devastation of the human experience. Thanks to Silicon Valley.” He posted https://twitter.com/HackedOffHugh/status/1788183871504204257 from Apple CEO Tim Cook, in which the chairman praised the new ultra-flat iPad: “Imagine what can be created with this.” But making actor Grant a living is not the intention, as was evident from Apple’s response.
Not original
“Creativity is in Apple’s DNA, and we believe it’s important to design products that empower creative people to make the most beautiful things,” said Tom Myhren, Apple’s vice president of marketing communications, in a statement on behalf of Apple. “We missed the mark with this video, and we are sorry for that.”
Apple will no longer show the commercial on television. It can still be seen on the tech company’s YouTube channel, where it had already been clicked almost 1.4 million times as of Friday morning.
Apple is known as a company that rarely apologizes publicly for anything, but that image is not entirely accurate. After Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1996, from which he had left with a bang in 1985, he apologized for the mess his predecessors had made.
Jobs himself would be criticized in 1999 for late delivery of G4 Macs, apologized in 2006 for stock tampering, in 2007 for a price drop for the iPhone (two months after its introduction), and in 2010 for problems with the iPhone. antenna of the iPhone, causing phone calls to drop. By the way, Jobs also knows the latter about customers who hold their mobile phone incorrectly.
Under the leadership of Jobs’ successor Cook, Apple apologized at least eight times for issues ranging from a navigation app that misled customers to racist employees at the Apple Store.
Some internet users point out that crushing utensils is not an original move by Apple. The Hydraulic Press Channel on YouTube shows dozens of objects that meet a spectacular end under a hydraulic press. Including an iPhone. Competing channel PressTube acquired an iPad Air seven years ago.
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