According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple is said to have recently acquired a startup by the name of Emotient Inc., a company that specializes in artificial intelligence technology that can apparently read the emotions of a person just by analyzing facial expressions.No doubt AI is hot topic in the tech industry, with some charging full steam ahead, while others are furiously pumping money into efforts to help prevent AI from leading us down a dark path (think Terminator and Skynet). However it is unclear as to why Apple might want this technology or the firm that owns said technology.
However prior to the acquisition, Emotient marketed its services to advertising companies, claiming that by being able to read facial expressions, it will give advertisers a better indication of how people react to their ads and if it is effective or not, and it is possible that maybe Apple wants similar technology applied to its iAds platform.
Alternatively the software could potentially be used for its iOS and OS X Photos app, where it would allow for the better sorting of photos, perhaps by mood or better photo selection. We suppose we’ll never know until (if and when) it is applied. In the meantime an Apple spokeswoman gave a boilerplate statement where she notes that Apple “buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
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