Apple has grand plans for AI this year. iPhone 16 is going to be an AI powerhouse. But AI is only as good as its training, and that means finding the right content for AI models.

The problem with AI training is that finding suitable content is difficult; companies like OpenAI are known for training AI based on content published online, which can cause problems. An AI that reproduces copyrighted material could violate copyright laws, and similarly, an AI that encounters misinformation could end up repeating the same nonsense to others.

Companies like Shutterstock already own a huge variety of image, audio, and video content and seem willing to let tech companies use it. According to Reuters, Apple is not the only company that has such a deal with Shutterstock. Apparently Amazon, Meta, and Google each have their own agreements, the details of which are unknown.

Reuters claims that these contracts, each worth between $25 million and $50 million, allow these companies to train AI on the millions of images in Shutterstock's library. The possibility of AI being trained on content libraries like Shutterstock's is quite exciting, as the AI models will have a vast range of higher quality images and metadata to learn from.

For starters, the reported deal between Apple and Shutterstock could help increase AI's image recognition capabilities.

The collaboration with Shutterstock could also increase the potential for generative AI for the iPhone in terms of image generation and editing; the Apple equivalent of Google's Magic Editor is, after all, what is supposed to go there If you don't know, you can't fill in the gaps while editing. For example, if you are taking a portrait in front of a famous tourist attraction and you want to erase part of someone, Apple's Photos app can know what should be in the background.

In addition, there is audio and video content from Shutterstock that can be enhanced with speech recognition, automatic transcription, Personal Voice, and countless other features.

Of course, we still don't know exactly what AI features Apple has planned; we'll have to wait until the WWDC 2024 keynote on June 10. That's where we'll no doubt see iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 first unveiled.