Apple has unveiled a year-long AI/ML residency program where experts in non-AI fields are invited to apply their expertise in building new ML or AI-powered products and experiences. Michael Rennaker, a lead at research in academic for Apple AI/ML, first drew attention to the program in a tweet: "If you have expertise in [a] field outside of AI, can code, and want to dip your toe into the world of Machine Learning, we've created this program just for you!" The need for domain experts to understand machine learning is growing, says Apple, as intelligent experiences to solve problems are implemented across hardware, software, and services. The purpose of the AI/ML residency program is to immerse these domain experts in the ML space, investing in their technical and theoretical machine learning development to advance their professional careers. Apple is hence looking to welcome residents with STEM graduate degrees (or with equivalent industry experience) across a broad swathe, from software development backgrounds to niche expertise such as neuroscience, linguistics, psychology, or even design.

As Apple's artificial language and machine learning initiatives continue to expand, its interest in attracting talent has grown -- a theme that's barely under the surface of the company's occasionally updated Machine Learning Research blog. Now Apple is openly seeking to recruit U.S. and European candidates with niche expertise for a yearlong AI/ML residency program, promising immersion and mentoring that will advance their careers. The goal is apparently to find people whose interests aren't necessarily AI/ML specific, then give them the knowledge and tools to apply machine learning and deep learning to their disciplines -- a process that will widen Apple's ability to solve users' problems in those disciplines. Apple says its ideal candidates would come from fields such as cognitive science, psychology, physics, robotics, public health, or computer graphics, but in any case should have programming proficiency and either a graduate degree or equivalent industry experience. Residencies are currently being offered in Cupertino, California; Seattle, Washington; Cambridge, U.K.; Zurich, and "various locations within Germany" for a summer 2021 start date, with assignment descriptions that vary between locations.

Apple just announced it's new AI/ML residency program! More details about the program can be found...