According to reports, Apple may introduce an AI-powered Smart Reply feature to its native Mail app. Smart Reply uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate instant replies to emails in your inbox. The tech giant is reportedly set to unveil the feature at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024, scheduled for June 10. Siri is also said to have the Smart Reply feature, which will enable it to generate messages and reply to emails on users' behalf. These AI-driven upgrades are reportedly being developed by Apple's Project BlackPearl.
Apple adds AI-powered features to Mail app
According to a report from AppleInsider, the Mail app is set to get a major upgrade. Citing sources, the company said that the Smart Reply feature will generate email replies to help users respond to emails faster. It is also said that users will be able to change the tone of replies. For example, users can ask for replies to be more professional, more conversational, or more friendly.
According to reports, the pre-release version of Apple's next OS also revealed further upgrades to the Mail app. The app's search results will include contacts, location, and on-device document data, adding more fine-grained search capabilities to the Mail app. These features will reportedly be powered by Apple's unannounced on-device AI model, Ajax Large Language Model (LLM).
Additionally, the report claims that the Mail app may be able to classify emails based on text. This could mean that Apple will equip the Mail app with machine learning technology to analyze emails. The report highlights that the app may be able to classify emails into one of six predefined lists: Commerce, News, Other, Promotional, Social, and Transactional.
This could be useful for people who receive a large amount of email. Official email accounts for organizations could also benefit from this feature. Additionally, the report states that Siri will also get smart reply and email categorization features. While it's hard to determine the use case for the latter, the former will allow users to verbally reply to emails with AI-generated content.
Apart from these, previous reports have highlighted that Apple may add AI features to Siri, the Photos app, the Notes app, and more.
