- Apple Intelligence is the sci-fi future we promised.
- It's private and brings together all your personal information.
- Apple has also partnered with Open AI.
Apple Intelligence finally brings us the sci-fi promise of the computer assistants featured in TV shows and movies.
So far, the AI hype has been all about generating garbage, Chat GPT, and gibberish that Google cobbled together based on unauthorized data scraped from the internet. While Apple did debase itself by allowing some of this during its WWDC 2024 keynote, it also showed the tech industry what the future of AI actually looks like, just as it showed the world laptops, smartphones, and tablets The same as what a computer would look like. It's far from perfect, but it makes all the attempts so far seem a bit pointless.
"Yes, Apple is going all out on AI features. But here's the thing: they're just features," Ryne Hager of privacy-focused phone company OSOM said on social media. “AI is not a product in and of itself. It’s a watershed moment, just like data analytics, and we’re going to see AI happening in everything from now on. But you’re not going to buy an AI box or a pin or Any other fantastic novelty product category.”
What Apple has done is put large language models (LLMs) that power generative AI into apps. The most GPT-like feature is that it gives you the ability to proofread or rewrite emails, but those features distract from the main story, which is that Apple's AI can gain deep access to your personal data and use it to become A true, very useful virtual assistant.
First, it does useful things like summarize emails and displays those summaries in your inbox instead of just the usual useless first line of an email. Or it can parse the notification to show you the information you need to know. Or it can learn your handwriting style and then add pasted text to your notes in your own handwriting.
But it's Siri that's truly impressive. Your phone already knows who you are, where you live, who your friends and family are, what they look like, and more. It has your calendar, address book, email, photos, and messages. So instead of using glue to deliver a pizza recipe, Siri can now a) actually understand your questions and b) leverage all the personal data on your iPhone to answer them.
So what can you do with this? A great example from Apple's keynote was asking Siri when your mother's flight will land. Siri gets that information from your email or message, then checks the flight tracking service and gives you an answer.
“If you can incorporate personal information, then generative AI takes it to the next level and becomes Much more valuable. ” “You don’t have to write a lot of prompts and tweak them. The LL.M. will usually understand what you want […] and do it, which makes for a better experience, for example when searching for photos or planning a trip. ”
It seems simple, but that's exactly what sci-fi computers do in movies, ultimately freeing us from the tedious work of searching and correlating information. Since it's all based on your own data, it should be accurate and useful.
“The concept of system-wide access to personal information will revolutionize our interactions with devices. By breaking down the silos that currently limit their capabilities, devices will not only serve as starting points for connecting other tools, but will actively create efficiencies. Generative Artificial Intelligence at Jones School of Business Intelligence professor Kathleen Perley told Lifewire via email.
Another example we like is Apple's press release where you ask Siri to "play a podcast recommended by [your friend]" and it will figure it all out for you. Or what your husband asked you to buy from the store, etc.
But AI is still AI. While Apple addresses privacy concerns by doing all of the above locally on the device, it still needs to train these models, which requires a lot of power, and still kicks some queries to the cloud. AI clouds are less private and use a lot of electricity and water, not to mention the ethical concerns surrounding Apple's new AI partner, Open AI.
"I really wish they could address the environmental issues. It would help me personally embrace these features more. But I know they can't... because the story is bad," senior Mac and iOS developer Cabel Sasser said in One post said about mastodons.
Given that Apple is so keen on pushing its green credentials and commitment to renewable energy, it's no wonder it didn't mention it in its keynote.
"To be honest, if you roll out generative AI features and don't talk about their ethical or environmental impact, you're completely failing to change the industry in a way that only Apple can," said former Apple software engineer and longtime Mac Said someone who works with Mac. iOS developer James Thompson said in a post on Mastodon.
Apple may be showing the world how to use artificial intelligence, but it's missing the most important part.
