after the reactions of several artists including Hugh Grant on the new iPad Pro ad, Apple apologizes

The advertising spot, presented at Apple’s Keynote on Tuesday May 7, will no longer be part of the television campaign for the Apple brand’s famous tablet.

Apple apologized on Thursday May 9 after advertising for its new iPad Pro, which shows all kinds of objects, representing human creativity, crushed and replaced by the tablet, aroused the anger of many artists angry against intelligence artificial (AI).

“The destruction of the human experience thanks to Silicon Valley”for example reacted the British actor Hugh Grant on X (ex-Twitter), in response to the message presenting the new iPad Pro by Tim Cook, the boss of Apple.

The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley. https://t.co/273XB3CfnF

— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) May 8, 2024

“Creativity is part of our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to build products that enable creatives around the world to flourish”declared Tor Myhren, vice president of marketing at Apple, to the specialized site Ad Age. “Our goal is to celebrate the myriad ways people express themselves and bring their ideas to life using iPad. We missed the mark with this video and we’re sorry.”he added.

The company has also decided not to broadcast the ad on television, as initially planned, but it remains available on YouTube and Tim Cook’s X account. Apple spoke very little about AI on Tuesday May 7 during the Keynote, and did not mention generative AI, but this technology – which makes it possible to produce all kinds of content (texts, images, videos, music) simply query in everyday language – is on the mind of all artists.

Artists hostile to AI

Hollywood actors and screenwriters went on strike for several months, demanding in particular protections against generative AI. Many artists have also filed complaints against the main companies in the sector, such as OpenAI (ChatGPT), accusing them of having plundered their works to train their generative AI models.

In Apple’s ad, a metronome, paint cans, piano, jukebox, mannequin, sculpture, cameras, books and many other objects are slowly crushed by a huge hydraulic press. Then it rises to reveal, in their place, an iPad Pro. All to the sound of the nostalgic pop song All I Ever Need is You by Sonny & Cher (“Sometimes when I’m down and alone, all I need is you”).

“Who needs human life and everything that makes it worth living? Immerse yourself in this digital simulacrum and give us your soul. Sincerely, Apple”launched, ironically, Ed Solomon, the screenwriter of Men in Blackon X.