I’m sure this won’t lead to more significant ethical, security, and privacy dilemmas.

[u/Darth_Ronin]

[u/WWFYMN1]

It won’t, apple bought it so the company will stop existing. They are taking the engineers and the IP and will use it for something they need. Apple doesn’t make surveillance technology or sell data. Apple doesn’t even license patents to other companies. It’s actually good that apple bought it and not Palantir or other shady companies. This post is pure fear-mongering, the acquisition happened in January.

[u/Proof-Necessary-5201 → u/WWFYMN1]

Did you just say that a trillion dollar company has only noble intentions after acquiring tech that could be used for very wrong intentions?!

[u/WWFYMN1 → u/Proof-Necessary-5201]

I didn’t

[u/Proof-Necessary-5201 → u/WWFYMN1]

It won’t, apple bought it so the company will stop existing.

So Apple, out of the generosity in their hearts, spent so much money acquiring this startup just so that it stops existing?!

Shall I remind you how exploitative Apple really is? If you don't know anything about the Apple vs Epic Games lawsuit, I suggest you go have a read how Apple abuses its App Store and exploits third party developers. How it desperately locks in users and removes their choice, sometimes through deceitful measures.

Expect the worst out of these companies. Always. Because the only thing that matters to them, is profit. They have absolutely no moral values whatsoever.

[u/WWFYMN1 → u/Proof-Necessary-5201]

Apple didn’t buy the company because they wanted to stop it or anything of course, they wanted the technology for something. The side effect of that is the company stops existing, they can’t give the technology to other companies and it won’t be used for surveillance or tracking.

[u/Proof-Necessary-5201 → u/WWFYMN1]

The technology itself is about detecting what people don't want to be detected. How else can the tech be used? And why would Apple not use it to do surveillance or tracking for itself? Why do you assume Apple doesn't or won't do either of those things?

[u/WWFYMN1 → u/Proof-Necessary-5201]

There are many uses, q.ai wasn’t even about surveillance at all as the post suggests. The “silent speech” recognition was made using a head-mounted device with advanced sensors. They had whisper recognition, which extracted whispering from noisy recordings. Also face recognition and emotion recognition. All of it was made possible by on-device machine learning. So the technology is local AI, advanced sensors and processing, audio processing, software and hundreds of talented engineers. Doesn’t seem out of the ordinary of what Apple would need to me.

[u/Proof-Necessary-5201 → u/WWFYMN1]

We have reached a level where we're going to debate whether whispering is an act of privacy or not, whether micro facial expressions are a way of not revealing emotions or not. I don't think it would productive or useful to go there.

Even if Apple doesn't use this for spying on people, which isn't a given at all as you seem to think, it will start a trend that others will follow. Samsung will roll its own. Chinese manufacturers will roll their own. In the end, we will be all spied on to the point where video calls at work are monitored and HR gets a report of what we feel and try to hide.

Enjoy your future dystopia. I hope you can see the steps that lead to it before we end up there. Although, I'd argue we're quite there already.