Google and Microsoft have made their developer conferences a showcase of their artificial intelligence, and now all eyes are on next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which is expected to mark the debut of Apple Intelligence.
The Cupertino-based company is under a lot of pressure. Apple has lagged behind its peers in the AI race and probably feels it has to pull out all the stops to impress fans and shareholders. But this should not mean over-promising possibilities.
Credibility first
Apple makes some of the most popular devices on the planet, and its AI features should serve to make them more useful. Many AI-powered functions rely on going back to the cloud to get answers or inputs back. However, if Apple manages to perform some useful functions locally on the device, users may abandon cloud-based tools in favor of always-on AI. Offline transcriptions in Voice Memo and Notes apps could match.
Apple will likely reveal notification and web page summaries, basic text creation and photo editing. However, many browsers, note-taking apps, and photo-editing apps already have them. Apple needs to make their app as smooth and seamless as possible to make it stand out.
Privacy first
Apple is likely to tighten its approach to privacy protection, so it may not freely allow Siri or AI-powered features to take control of all apps. According Bloomberg report, only iPhone 15 Pro and iPads or Macs with an M1 chip or later will get AI features and be enabled. If this is true, despite the delay in the adoption curve of AI features, Apple is still cautious and doesn’t want to get caught up in user backlash.
The company was recently criticized for its ‘Crush’ iPad ad, which showed creative instruments being destroyed under a hydraulic press. This was seen as Apple devaluing creators, their tools and the effort it takes to make art by packaging it into a thin capitalist package. With AI already having a bad rap with creators, Apple may not want to upset them again. So he will probably take a non-controversial approach.
Improved Siri
The biggest change Apple is expected to make revamp Siri to better understand user queries and deliver them more accurate results. Currently, Siri cannot multitask. If you ask the assistant to set a 10-minute timer and a 5-minute timer, it will set one for 15 minutes. These things may not need the help of genetic AI to solve, but the Siri refresh should at least have them.
If Siri doesn’t gain deeper access to apps as expected, Apple may make users’ lives easier by introducing an AI assistant that will help users create complex Siri shortcuts to accomplish multi-step tasks.
Rumors on the street are that Apple will announce agreement with OpenAI to power AI functions across its operating systems. It remains to be seen how much of Apple Intelligence will be built into this deal. Given the problems with AI hallucinations, Apple may not want to get directly involved in content-related AI functions.
Many companies make big promises about AI-powered features, only to disappoint with inaccurate or biased results. Companies like Google and OpenAI have been forced to roll back AI features due to bugs or copyright issues. Therefore, the company may not want to rely on LLMs (large language models) to create content.
