Apple has issued an apology following backlash against an advert for the company's upcoming iPad Pro.
The tech giant was heavily criticised over the video, with people pointing out that it was tone deaf amid concerns around AI. Take a look:
In the video a selection of objects which are used in human creativity are seen placed together on a platform.
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This includes musical instruments such as trumpets, guitars, and a piano, as well as a record player, several cans of paint, and a clay sculpture among other things.
So, essentially it's lots of objects which would be used by humans as a means of creative expression, whether it's music, sculpture, painting, or anything else.
It soon becomes clear that all of these objects are in fact on an industrial crusher, which begins to descend.
As it comes down, the video shows graphic details of many objects as they are destroyed by the crusher.
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This includes how the piano collapses, the guitar strings explode outwards, the cans of paints are sent spraying everywhere, and the clay sculpture disintegrates.
Once all the creative tools have been destroyed the crusher rises up again, to reveal Apple's iPad Pro sitting unharmed on the platform.
The intended metaphor is pretty obvious - this is all of the creative tools that can be squeezed into this one device.
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But the advert sparked a backlash as many artists, writers, and musicians are increasingly concerned about the impact of generative AI.
Instead of using technology to free ourselves from difficult labour and spend more time doing things that bring us joy, we let the robots do the art and make people do the menial jobs.
Something seems to have gone wrong somewhere.
And that's before you get into how upsetting it could be for a musician or artist to watch the means of their creativity be literally destroyed, to be replaced by something representative of a threat to human expression.
So it's fair to say that the advert for the new iPad Pro hasn't gone down too well.
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Apple has apologised for the advert, saying that it 'missed the mark'.
In a statement, the tech giant said: “Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
UNILAD has reached out to Apple for further comment.
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