Apple announced that it will be utilizing images collected for its Look Around feature in Apple Maps to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. The initiative will start in March 2025 and is a significant step towards utilizing the vast amount of visual data Apple gathers for its mapping services. Look Around is Apple’s version of Google’s Street View, and it allows users to see locations from a street-level perspective. The functionality was introduced in 2019 as part of a major revamp of Apple Maps.
For the sake of privacy, Apple blurs faces and license plates in each photo published through Look Around. Apple is taking this privacy focus to the AI training process as well, where the AI will be trained using only the blurred images. Apple is eager to promote its commitment to user privacy as it rolls out its AI capability.
The images collected for Look Around are taken using a combination of car-mounted cameras and handheld apparatuses, including backpacks with sensors and equipment such as iPhones and iPads. The surveys are conducted everywhere in the world to improve Apple Maps and enable the Look Around functionality. The users can determine upcoming survey locations by visiting Apple’s Maps Image Collection page, which lists regions and dates for new image collection.
Apple’s use of Look Around imagery to train AI is a component of its broader strategy to enhance its AI-driven products and services. Apple offers a number of AI image generation model-powered features, such as Image Playground that allows users to create new images from text prompts, and the Clean Up tool in the Photos app, which can remove unwanted objects from images. Additionally, Apple’s Enhanced Visual Search within the Photos app leverages AI in identifying points of interest and landmarks, with homomorphic encryption ensuring the user’s privacy.
Apple is not a pioneer in leveraging Look Around imagery for AI training. Google has been using its Street View data for years for the same purposes, illustrating the potential in employing such datasets to propel AI innovation. Apple’s move underscores its drive towards creating its AI features while still maintaining a high level of priority for user privacy.
As Apple continues to build out its AI features, the inclusion of Look Around images in its training sets should allow it to enhance the performance and accuracy of its AI models. This could lead to more advanced image recognition, generation, and augmentation functionality within Apple’s lineup of products and services. Apple has not yet announced exact specifics on which of its AI models are going to be trained on these images, so the possibility remains for additional announcements and releases.
