Siri
Siri screenshot. (Apple Image)

When Apple announced plans earlier this year to expand its engineering operation in Seattle, the company said it would be looking for “the best people who are excited about AI and machine learning.” Job listings on the tech giant’s website reveal just who Apple hopes to attract on its Siri Advanced Development team.

Business Insider pointed at the listings on Monday, saying that Apple was making a move on Amazon’s home turf to go after Siri talent in the land of Alexa — the voice-activated assistant on devices such as the Echo and Dot.

One job, posted back in January, is for a software engineer, and the other, posted on May 23, is for a speech scientist/engineer. A description at the bottom of both doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to regarding the work as groundbreaking and Siri as the original AI.

This position offers the right person a chance to play an important part in the next revolution in human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. You will contribute to a product that is redefining computing. You will be part of a team that’s creating groundbreaking technology for large scale systems, using spoken language and artificial intelligence. You will work with the people who created the intelligent assistant that helps millions of people get things done. You will be working in the Siri Advanced Development team, at Apple.

Apple in Seattle
Two Union Square in downtown Seattle,
where Apple expanded its engineering presence in the city. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Computer scientist Carlos Guestrin, who is Apple’s director of machine learning, told GeekWire in February about the hopes and plans for Apple’s team in Seattle, which was moving into two floors in Two Union Square.

Job candidates would be “excited about research and thinking long term but also bringing those ideas into products that impact and delight our customers,” Guestrin, said. “The bar is high, but we’re going to be hiring as quickly as we can find people that meet our high bar, which is exciting.”

He added at the time that when it comes to AI, “Seattle is the place to do it.”

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