Apple Debuts ‘Apple Intelligence’ Generative AI Features Across All Devices
After years of questions and rumors, Apple finally revealed its first big push to incorporate generative AI into its products and platforms at WWDC this year. Apple’s deluge of news included a revamped Siri, the new Apple Intelligence portfolio of features powered by large language models (LLMs) for Apple devices, and investments and partnerships, including with OpenAI, that could lead to significant shifts in the industry as a whole.
Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence accounts for most of the new generative AI features Apple announced. The “personal intelligence” system is coming to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. Notably, the features mostly operate without the cloud, with on-device processing of requests. as a way of upping privacy and security, as well as the performance speed. Much of Apple Intelligence enhances the existing natural language processing of the operating systems to give them the capabilities of ChatGPT, Claude, and similar generative AI assistants. For instance, the new Writing Tools can rewrite, edit, and summarize text in Apple’s email, Notes, and Pages apps. Apple Intelligence also adds the Priority Messages feature to the Mail app, using AI to spot and highlight urgent emails while Smart Reply suggests responses and tags questions in emails. Apple Intelligence can also record, transcribe, and summarize audio from the Notes and Phone apps.
On the visual front, the new Image Playground allows users to create fun images in different styles in the Messages app. It offers personalized suggested concepts based on the context of conversations, making image creation fast and relevant. Users can also access Image Playground in apps such as Keynote, Freeform, and Pages and third-party apps that adopt the new Image Playground API. Users can even make their own original emojis with the new Genmoji feature, with options to create Genmoji of friends and family based on photos.
The Photos app benefits from new features powered by Apple Intelligence, allowing users to search for photos and videos using natural language queries. The Clean Up tool identifies and removes distracting objects in the background of photos, and the Memories feature creates storylines from user descriptions, arranging photos and videos into a narrative movie with suggested songs from Apple Music.
Siri, thanks to Apple Intelligence, is now much better at understanding language, making it more natural, contextually relevant, and personal. Users can type to Siri and switch between text and voice interactions. Siri can also follow along if users stumble over words and maintain context from one request to the next. Siri’s new design includes a glowing light that wraps around the screen’s edge when active. With onscreen awareness, Siri can perform actions related to information on the screen, such as adding an address from Messages to a contact card. Siri can also take hundreds of new actions across Apple and third-party apps, making it more capable and useful.
“We’re thrilled to introduce a new chapter in Apple innovation. Apple Intelligence will transform what users can do with our products — and what our products can do for our users,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “Our unique approach combines generative AI with a user’s personal context to deliver truly helpful intelligence. And it can access that information in a completely private and secure way to help users do the things that matter most to them. This is AI as only Apple can deliver it, and we can’t wait for users to experience what it can do.”
Apple ChatGPT
Apple is also integrating ChatGPT into its operating systems, providing users with access to its expertise and capabilities without switching between tools. Siri can tap into ChatGPT for assistance, and users are notified before any questions, documents, or photos are sent to ChatGPT. This integration extends to systemwide Writing Tools, allowing users to generate content and images using ChatGPT. ChatGPT access will be free for users without requiring an account, with subscribers able to connect their accounts for additional features. Privacy protections are built-in, obscuring user IP addresses and preventing OpenAI from storing requests. Apple Intelligence will be available in beta as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia this fall in U.S. English. Some features, software platforms, and additional languages will be introduced over the next year. The system will be available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad, and Mac with M1, and later, with Siri and device language set to U.S. English.
Apple’s previous lack of generative AI projects in the public eye stood out compared to what its tech giant peers like Google and Microsoft are doing. Instead, Apple’s generative AI plans were mostly in the background. They included the shutdown of the San Diego Data Operations Annotations group to consolidate its work with Apple’s AI group in Texas, as well as the acquisition of Paris-based AI startup Datakalab and DarwinAI.
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