Apple joins the race to find an AI icon that makes sense

Jun 17, 2024

Apple joins other tech giants in designing non-threatening, abstract AI icons to help users identify AI interactions without implying limitations or expertise.

: Apple has entered the competition to create an icon that represents AI in a user-friendly way, alongside tech giants like Google and OpenAI. The challenge lies in designing a symbol that conveys AI without evoking negative connotations like inhumanity or magic. Current designs favor abstract, colorful shapes to suggest friendliness and potential rather than expertise or efficiency.

Apple has joined the ongoing effort among tech giants like Google, OpenAI, and Meta to design a suitable icon that represents artificial intelligence. The main goal is to create a visual cue in user interfaces so that users can distinguish AI interactions from regular tasks like searching or submitting information.

The designs vary, but they often aim to be non-threatening, abstract, and simple. Historically, AI icons have included robots or magic wands, but these have negative connotations, suggesting rigidity, limitation, or inexplicability, which these companies want to avoid.

Modern AI icons now employ soft, pastel colors and abstract shapes, projecting an image of friendliness and openness. Companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Apple have developed icons that are colorful and abstract to convey a sense of potential and approachability, avoiding the pitfalls of appearing overly technical or mysterious.