With Google and Microsoft showcasing their generative AI capabilities at their recent developer conferences, the spotlight is now on Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, where the introduction of Apple Intelligence is highly anticipated.
Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, is under significant pressure. Having lagged behind its competitors in the AI arena, the company likely feels the need to deliver an impressive display to win over fans and shareholders. However, this should not lead to overpromising on features.
Emphasizing Reliability
Apple’s devices are among the most popular globally, and any AI features should enhance their functionality. Many AI-powered tools depend on cloud connectivity for processing, but if Apple can implement effective on-device AI features, users might prefer these for their constant availability. Features like offline transcription in the Voice Memo and Notes apps could be prime examples.
Expected announcements may include notification and webpage summaries, basic text generation, and photo editing capabilities. However, these functions are already prevalent in many browsers, note-taking, and photo-editing apps. Apple needs to ensure its AI integration is exceptionally smooth and seamless to distinguish itself.
Prioritizing Privacy
Apple is expected to reinforce its commitment to privacy, which might mean limiting Siri and other AI functionalities from fully controlling all apps. According to Bloomberg, only the iPhone 15 Pro and devices with M1 or newer chips, such as certain iPads and Macs, will feature AI capabilities, and these will be opt-in. Despite trailing in AI feature adoption, Apple remains cautious, likely to avoid potential user backlash.
The company faced criticism for its recent iPad “Crush” advertisement, perceived as undermining the efforts of creators by trivializing artistic tools. Given AI’s contentious reputation among creators, Apple is likely to adopt a careful, non-controversial approach to AI integration.
Enhancing Siri
A significant anticipated update is the improvement of Siri, aiming to better understand user queries and provide more accurate responses. Currently, Siri struggles with multitasking; for example, it combines requests for separate timers into one cumulative timer. While these issues may not require generative AI to resolve, a Siri overhaul should address such problems.
If deeper app integration for Siri isn’t forthcoming, Apple could simplify users’ lives by introducing an AI assistant to help create complex Siri shortcuts for multistep tasks.
There are rumors that Apple may announce a partnership with OpenAI to support AI features across its operating systems. However, the extent of Apple Intelligence’s reliance on this partnership remains unclear. Given the known issues with AI hallucinations, Apple might be cautious about diving into content-related AI features at this stage.
Managing Expectations
Many companies make grand promises about AI capabilities, only to fall short with inaccurate or biased results. Both Google and OpenAI have faced setbacks due to errors or copyright issues. Consequently, Apple might be wary of depending heavily on large language models (LLMs) for content generation.
See also: Wix Introduces AI-Driven Smartphone App Creation Tool
