Feel like smiley face emojis aren't creative enough for you? At its WWDC conference on Monday, Apple announced a new feature called Genmoji. When the update comes to iPhone Messages in iOS 18 this fall, users will be able to use generative AI to create innovative (and maybe weird) emojis to use in their messages.
Look at this: Apple introduces personalized emojis called Genmoji
One example Apple gave was a smiley face emoji with cucumber slices over its eyes, like a spa day from “The Emoji Movie.” Another showed a T-Rex wearing a tutu and riding a surfboard, and yet another showed a squirrel DJ. Apple suggested using the last DJ to complain about a noisy squirrel outside your window.
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It also uses AI to select a photo of a friend you're texting and turn it into an emoji, which you can then share as a sticker, share as a tapback response to a text message, or drop inline into a message thread.
Image Playground augments AI images
And just in case Genmoji doesn't offer enough creative imagery, Apple also announced a new feature called Image Playground, which will let users use generative AI to create images for use in Messages, Apple's Freeform and Pages apps, and a new dedicated Image Playground app.
read more: Apple's Photos app redesign makes it easier to find specific iPhone photos
The images displayed are clearly cartoon-like, but that seems intentional on Apple's part, as there has been much controversy over AI-generated images that are so realistic they seem like real photographs.
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