Putting aside all of the consumer electronics that giants like Apple ($AAPL), LG, Samsung, Google, and Amazon make and sell today, if you ask anyone who knows anything about the future of the technology sector, they will tell you that the big companies of today will still be around tomorrow because of artificial intelligence.

While almost anyone can make the next iPhone hardware, the difference will be found in how the next iPhone behaves, predicts a user's needs, and adjusts based on context. Today, this mostly comes from clever software programming and low-level artificial intelligence that uses fuzzy logic to handle predictions. In the future, our technology will behave more like a human brain utilizing neural networks and what are called deep belief networks.

But, first, those neural, deep-belief networks must be taught how to behave. That's where deep learning comes in. And Apple is slowly, quietly building its deep-learning team.

The graph below is a representation of job listings at Apple with the term "Deep Learning" in their titles.

As you can see, "deep learning" openings at Apple have begun to appear as the company looks to move from basic digital-assistant technology like Siri into developing artificial intelligence that will do everything from recognize images to speech to making contextual recommendations.

As of today, Apple's careers site shows 7 "deep learning"-related openings (the detailed list can be found here):

As Of Date

Title

Category

City

Country

Posted Date

20180814

Deep Learning Engineer - Deformable Object Tracking

Hardware Engineering

Munich

DEU

20180611

20180814

ACG - Machine Learning R&D Engineer (Deep Learning Specialist)

Software Engineering

Portland

USA

20180416

20180814

Deep Learning Engineer - Deformable Object Tracking

Hardware Engineering

Santa Clara Valley

USA

20180622

20180814

Deep Learning Software Engineer

Hardware Engineering

Santa Clara Valley

USA

20180507

20180814

Deep Learning Engineer - Technology Development Group

Hardware Engineering

Santa Clara Valley

USA

20180628

20180814

Deep Learning Engineer - Technology Development Group

Hardware Engineering

Santa Clara Valley

USA

20180621

20180814

Camera & Photos - CVML Deep Learning Research Engineer

Software Engineering

Santa Clara Valley

USA

20180712

When looking at all "deep learning" positions posted by Apple since 2016, we get a more rounded picture of the team the company is putting together, and it's quite fascinating:

Title

City

ACG - Machine Learning R&D Engineer (Deep Learning Specialist)

Portland

ACG : Machine Learning R&D Engineer (Deep Learning Specialist)

Portland

Camera & Photos - Computer Vision Researcher - Deep Learning Imaging

Santa Clara Valley

Camera & Photos - CVML Deep Learning Research Engineer

Santa Clara Valley

Camera & Photos - CVML, Deep Learning Research Engineer

Santa Clara Valley

Camera & Photos - CVML, Mobile Deep Learning Performance Engineer

Santa Clara Valley

Camera & Photos - Mobile Deep Learning Performance Engineer

Santa Clara Valley

Camera & Photos, CVML - Mobile Deep Learning Performance Eng.

Santa Clara Valley

Computer Vision and Deep Learning Researcher - Imaging & Vision Technologies

Santa Clara Valley

CVML - Mobile Deep Learning Performance Engineer

Santa Clara Valley

Deep Learning Data Engineer - Technology Development Group

Santa Clara Valley

Deep Learning Engineer - Technology Development Group

Santa Clara Valley

Deep Learning Engineer - Technology Investigation

Santa Clara Valley

Deep Learning Engineer - Deformable Object Tracking

Munich

Deep Learning Engineer - Deformable Object Tracking

Santa Clara Valley

Deep Learning Software Engineer

Santa Clara Valley

Deep Learning Specialist

Santa Clara Valley

Senior Software Engineer, Deep Learning

Santa Clara Valley

Software Engineer - Perception/Deep Learning

Zurich

Apple has posted roughly 19 iterations of "deep learning" positions. We say "roughly" because while the above positions are straight from Apple's careers site where multiple spelling iterations and re-listings can (and do) occur.

That said, the grouped list includes machine learning specialists looking to teach Apple artificial intelligence everything from image recognition and tracking to understanding and perception.

It's impossible to say for sure what Apple has planned when it comes to its AI of the future, but one thing is certain: the company is already busy building a stable of experts to assure there's a future at all.