How ‘Apple Intelligence’ is Disrupting AI
As AI becomes more prevalent, concerns about data privacy and security have also come to the surface.
Major technology companies are racing to integrate AI capabilities into their products and services, yet consequently are also having to race in how they use AI responsibly.
This global trend is subsequently reshaping how consumers interact with their devices and how businesses operate.
Against this backdrop, Apple, known for its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, has announced a significant update to its operating systems, introducing a suite of AI-powered features collectively known as Apple Intelligence.
This move by Apple is a large step in the company's AI strategy, positioning it to compete more directly with other tech giants like Google and Microsoft, who have been relentlessly pushing AI integration in their products.
Apple's approach, however, maintains its traditional focus on privacy and on-device processing, differentiating it from competitors who often rely more heavily on cloud-based AI solutions.
Apple Intelligence: a new era for Apple devices
Apple has released the first set of Apple Intelligence features for iPhone, iPad and Mac users through a free software update.
- Enhanced Siri: More natural interactions with improved language understanding
- Intelligent photos app: Allows search for images or videos by description with a clean up tool
- Priority messages: Highlights urgent emails in Mail and provides summaries
- Notification summaries: Views key details from notifications on the Lock Screen
This update, available with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1, marks the beginning of what Apple describes as “a new era” for its devices.
Apple's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, says: "Apple Intelligence introduces a new era for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, delivering brand-new experiences and tools that will transform what our users can accomplish.
“Apple Intelligence builds on years of innovation in AI and machine learning to put Apple’s generative models at the core of our devices, giving our users a personal intelligence system that is easy to use — all while protecting their privacy.”
The new features include systemwide writing tools, enhanced Siri capabilities and improvements to the Photos app.
These updates are designed to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks while maintaining Apple's commitment to user privacy.
Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, explains: "Apple Intelligence unlocks exciting new capabilities that make your iPhone, iPad, and Mac even more helpful and useful, from Writing Tools to help refine your writing, to summarised notifications that surface what’s most important, to the ability to search for almost anything in your photos and videos by simply describing it”.
Apple Intelligence enhancing productivity and user experience
One of the key features of Apple Intelligence is the introduction of systemwide writing tools.
These tools allow users to refine their language by rewriting, proofreading and summarising text across various applications, including Mail, Messages, Notes and Pages.
Users can choose from different versions of what they have written and adjust the tone to suit their audience and task.
The Photos app has also been enhanced with natural language search capabilities, allowing users to find specific images or video segments by describing what they're looking for.
A new 'Clean Up' tool has also been introduced, enabling users to remove unwanted objects or people from photos, addressing a common user need in photo editing.
Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, has been updated to be more natural and conversational.
It now features a new design and improved language-understanding capabilities, allowing it to maintain context across multiple requests and answer a wider range of questions about Apple products.
This update aims to make Siri more competitive with other AI assistants in the market.
Apple has also introduced new features to help users prioritise and stay focused.
These include Priority Messages, a new section at the top of the Mail inbox that shows the most urgent emails, and notification summaries that allow users to scan long or stacked notifications with key details right on the Lock Screen.
Privacy and future developments
Apple has additionally emphasised its commitment to user privacy in the development of Apple Intelligence.
“Apple Intelligence builds on years of innovation in AI and machine learning to put Apple’s generative models at the core of our devices, giving our users a personal intelligence system that is easy to use — all while protecting their privacy.”
Craig explains the AI is “all built on a foundation of privacy with on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, a groundbreaking new approach that extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud to protect users’ information.”
Many of the AI models powering these features run entirely on the device and for tasks requiring more processing power, Apple has introduced 'Private Cloud Compute'.
This system extends the privacy and security of Apple devices into the cloud without storing or sharing user data with Apple.
The company has announced that further Apple Intelligence features will be rolled out in the coming months.
These will include new ways for users to express themselves visually, such as creating original 'Genmoji' and using 'Image Playground' to create playful images.
Apple also plans to introduce more powerful writing tools and a new visual intelligence experience that will help users learn about objects and places instantly.
As Craig concludes: "This is just the beginning" of Apple's foray into AI-powered features, signalling the company's commitment to staying competitive in this rapidly evolving field while maintaining its focus on user privacy and device-based processing.
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