Apple photographs the city and country: Images also for AI training in the future

Apple extends the data sources for training its AI models. The images taken by the in -house fleet of camera vehicles and camera bags in the future should not only flow into the map service, but also for the first time in the further development of other products and services of the group. This includes, for example, the training of models “in connection with image recognition, creation and improvement”, as Apple freshly noted on its updated information page on the Apple Maps image recording.

For AI training, “blurred images that will be collected in surveys from March 2025” are used, Apple explains in the German translation there. This probably means the images of streets and regions taken by the camera vehicles and backpacks. People and license plates should automatically be made unrecognizable (“blurred”) and are only used in this adapted form for AI training.

Apple Intelligence so far with a few image functions

Which functions Apple wants to improve in concrete terms remains open for the time being. Apple Intelligence, which also comes to Germany with iOS 18.4 at the beginning of April, includes functions for AI image generation, for deleting unwanted photo elements and “visual intelligence”. The latter function captures the physical environment via the iPhone camera and tries to provide context information and additional actions. For central functions for image analysis, however, visual intelligence as a fallback integrates Chatgpt and Google image search.

Apple's cameraflotte is currently not on the road within Germany, accordingly no image data for AI training purposes are collected in this country. The vehicles were most recently traveling across Germany in 2023 and 2024, but so far Apple has obviously not fed into the “look” in the map service into his street view counterpart.

AI training with illicit web content

Similar to the rest of the industry, Apple has also used its own voice models on unixed web content and only then communicated an option for opt-out. Apple's AI initiative has recently become increasingly criticized because the group has so far not been able to implement functions for the Siri voice assistance system (and already marketed in commercials). Internally, the Siri team is now under new management.