The hidden cost of a culture of hiding things…
Apple’s morbid obsession with secrecy is well known: The company has never talked to the media, it says absolutely nothing about its products until they are launched, it doesn’t respond to rumors, doesn’t take part in conferences or any kind of event and has even brought legal action to shut down websites that have revealed details about upcoming launches.
For those of us with an interest in the technology sphere, Apple’s approach obliges us to jump through hoops. I am used to inviting relevant figures from the industry to my classes and events, but have never been able to get anybody from Apple to attend, and so usually have ended up with an independent blogger sitting in for them. Which is absurd. Quite frankly, in today’s increasingly transparent world, Apple is an anachronism.
These days, communication between the different players in cutting edge technology is vital. According to MIT Tech Review, no matter how much Apple tries to brag about how important artificial intelligence is for them, the company is currently way behind players like Facebook and Google in that realm, and the main reason is its secrecy. If you work in artificial intelligence or machine learning today, it is essential to be able to publish your findings, your developments and your creations, which not only boosts your prestige, but also helps the development of your work thanks to peer feedback. Peer reviewing, when done well, is an essential part of scientific progress.
For a company working on AI or machine learning to be bought by Apple as part of the sector’s ongoing consolidation process means you will be taken out of the game and no longer able to publish anything, attend conferences or talk to the media. This is not a good place to be, especially if you have been an active participant in communities where companies like Google, Facebook or IBM tend to work along open code lines, contributing to a growing body of knowledge.
Add this to the company’s strict policy of privacy about using its customers’ data, a topic we’ve already discussed, and the reality is that although the company is doing everything it can to headhunt the best AI and machine learning talent, it is having a hard job holding on to people. The times when few professionals dared to say no to Apple are over now that AI and machine learning are the future. If you work in these fields, the chances are that you too would turn Apple down, not for the money, but because of the limited future you would have with it. Nobody likes working in the dark.
The next time you ask Siri a question and she answers with something of no use whatsoever, as is usually the case, then you might want to remember that it is precisely Apple’s secrecy that is the problem. In an increasingly open and collaborative world, winding up the drawbridge is not the best strategy, even if you are the world’s most valuable company.
(En español, aquí)
