Apple's AI: We've seen this before

CNN
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Apple is trying to take artificial intelligence mainstream, but some of its efforts are similar to what its competitors are already doing.

In a demo after its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Tuesday, Apple gave CNN a preview of some of the AI-powered features coming to iPhones, iPads and Macs this fall. Some of the tools, powered by what the company calls “Apple Intelligence,” represent a new era for the company, while others are a reminder that the company is just playing catch-up.

Still, for many people, this will be their first opportunity to interact with generative AI — a hot topic of artificial intelligence that can answer questions seemingly exhaustively — in a way that will impact their daily lives.

The biggest change coming to Apple's devices is a modernized and much smarter Siri, which could turn the company's hit-or-miss virtual assistant into a more reliable, personalized chatbot. But meanwhile, other AI tools will be familiar to what we've seen on the market. The first version of Siri, released in 2011, made similar predictions but ended up being a relative disappointment in the cultural zeitgeist.

For example, Apple Intelligence can help you spot typos and grammatical errors in your emails, just like a spellchecker or a service like Grammarly. It can also give your casual drafts a more professional tone (much like Microsoft's AI software Copilot). It also gives you the ability to circle or remove unwanted objects in photos (similar to the Google Pixel's Magic Easer). It can even create AI-generated images from your sketches (similar to the Samsung Image Wand).

Apple is not often the first company to adopt and integrate emerging technologies. The company typically aims to spend years researching, developing and perfecting new technologies before incorporating them into new products. But the speed at which the world is adopting generative AI may have fueled the company's need to develop its latest tech-industry-stake smartphone and finally show off something it may have been working on behind the scenes for years.

Those who only use Apple's most powerful (and expensive) products Devices that can use the AI ​​tools include the iPhone 15 Pro and Macs with M1, M2, and M3 processors. The rollout could also encourage consumers to upgrade their devices while they hold on to older models for longer.

Ahead of the demo, the company stressed that the new tool is largely enabled by Apple Intelligence, and that its partnership with ChatGPT's creators, OpenAI, only works in limited and specific ways (more on that shortly).

In the demo, Apple explained that you can use AI-powered writing tools to close or suggest changes to your cover letter, change the tone of your email, correct sentence structure, and find typos. If you want to make your email sound more professional or more personable, Apple's AI can give it a try. While using the Notes app, you can also ask it to summarize a meeting or school lecture. In the Photos app, you can remove unwanted objects or people from your photos with a quick tap.

Apple also showed how you can create customized photos to send in Messages, like a photo of fireworks with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background or a birthday party invitation with a custom photo of a dinosaur on a surfboard. It's easy to imagine this, combined with Genmoji, Apple's custom AI-generated emoji that use your likeness against different backgrounds, opening up new ways to communicate. Interested in texting and interacting with others.

But it's with Siri that Apple is showcasing its AI prowess, and the company says it's making great strides by becoming more contextual and personal.

In the demo, an Apple executive asked Siri to set an alarm for 5:30 a.m., then Siri changed her mind and set it for 5:45 a.m. Siri complied with ease. In Messages, if you ask a question, Siri knows what you're talking about. For example, if you're chatting with someone about tennis player Roger Federer, you can ask Siri how many matches he's won without saying his name.

If you have a question that falls outside the scope of Siri, ChatGPT can step in. In a demo, Apple showed how you can upload a photo of vegetables at a farmer's market and ask what you can make for dinner. Siri can suggest that this is a good question for ChatGPT and ask the user if they consent to using the service.

While the partnership is limited for now, some analysts say it makes sense for Apple to develop its own proprietary technology and let ChatGPT fill the gap in the meantime. Apple can scale back or expand its partnership with OpenAI over time, but using it in a limited capacity could help mitigate the risks associated with the company.

OpenAI, like other AI companies, continues to face concerns about misinformation, bias, copyright, privacy and security, and it also comes at a time when the industry is rapidly changing and government regulators, businesses and consumers are still figuring out how to use the technology responsibly.

During the presentation, Apple also emphasized privacy and security, saying most of the AI ​​functions would run on the phone, with inputs isolated from far-flung server clouds.

The market didn't seem to immediately react to Apple's announcement on Monday, with shares (AAPL) falling slightly, but the company's shares were up more than 7% on Tuesday.

These are just Apple's first steps towards what the tech giant desperately wants, but In this brave new world, China is now poised to become an increasingly powerful player in the AI ​​arms race.