‘I am not a fan of AI’: Apple’s co-founder slams artificial intelligence, saying it lacks human emotional depth

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Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says AI falls short when compared to human beings.

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Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak shared his ideas on artificial intelligence
He says he’s ‘not a fan’ of the likes of ChatGPT and Claude
His comments come as Apple continues to work on AI tools

Like other big tech firms, Apple is going all-in with its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. But if the company’s co-founder Steve Wozniak was still involved, things might look very different.

In an interview on The Claman Countdown on Fox Business, Wozniak revealed that he is “not a fan” of AI systems for a variety of reasons. That stands in stark contrast to the stance of Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has described AI as something that is “so profound and can be so positive.”

For Wozniak, though, AI has too many flaws for his liking. For instance, Wozniak said he can ask an AI tool what the difference is between two objects and it’ll give him a long, detailed answer. But if you ask a human, he noted, you might get treated to a story rather than the bare facts.

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“I want to know some human being like myself is thinking, knowing what I might feel and understanding emotions,” he added.

And it’s not just the lack of emotional depth that puts Wozniak off AI — it’s also the unreliability. Wozniak lamented that after testing various large language model (LLM) tools, he sometimes struggles to get a straight answer out of an AI. “I want such reliable content every time,” he said. “I am not a fan of AI.”

For a blast from the past, catch our sit-down with Steve Wozniak from nine years ago. From augmented reality to USB-C, see how his 2016 take on tech holds up today!

Steve Wozniak: quick fire interview - YouTube

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‘Making ourselves less relevant’

Apple Intelligence logo on an iPhone.

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Qubix Studio)

Wozniak’s comments come at a tough time for Apple’s AI efforts. The company seemed to get caught flat-footed by the emergence of ChatGPT in late 2022, and it wasn’t until summer 2024 that Apple unveiled its own AI system called Apple Intelligence. Unfortunately, this has hit roadblock after roadblock, and several of the flagship features that the company announced are yet to see the light of day two years later.

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This isn’t the first time that Wozniak has discussed AI. As far back as 2011 he touched on the matter, warning in a speech that “Every time we invent a computer to do something else, it’s doing our work for us, making ourselves less relevant.” In 2018, though, he was seemingly less concerned, arguing that “Sometimes what we call AI is just the state of the art of what computers can do right now … If you go back in time, machines have always made humans more powerful.”

Of course, both of those comments came before the rise of AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. And now that he's experienced tools like that, it certainly seems that he's not much of an admirer. But with Apple continuing to push further with its own AI systems, it seems that Wozniak will remain at odds with the company he co-founded 50 years ago.

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Alex BlakeFreelance Contributor

Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

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