Apple Maps Look Around cars will now also take photos to help train Apple Intelligence models

You may have seen Apple Maps survey cars in your area before. As they drive around, the cars take photos and 3D scans to generate ground truth data that can be used to improve map accuracy and offer features like Look Around, Apple’s equivalent of Google Street View. But now the data collected from these cars will also have another purpose. In an updated disclosure on the Apple Maps Image Collection website, Apple says that starting this month, imagery from its vehicle surveys will also be used to train generative AI models, like those used for Apple Intelligence features such as Image Playground and Clean Up. Apple Maps collects photos through vehicle surveys, using cars equipped with an array of cameras, and pedestrian surveys, where contractors walk around areas wearing special equipment on a backpack. The Image Collection website details where Apple plans to visit over the next few months; it returns to the same locations periodically to refresh its data as needed. The text at t ... Read full article.