Apple Embraces AI on Pricey iPhones. Other Devices Will Have AI Too

Apple says it will emphasize privacy

In sticking with the privacy mantra long a part of Apple’s messaging, the company says most AI processing will be done on your device. If it must go beyond that for more ambitious tasks, data to complete the mission will be sent through private cloud servers.

What’s more, data will not be stored on these servers longer than needed, and Apple won’t be able to make heads or tails out of it because of encryption. Apple added that it will further verify privacy by permitting independent experts to inspect the code on these servers.

Apple’s AI is playing catch-up to Android’s

With Google and Microsoft going full bore on generative AI the past couple of years — with words and images generated from scratch based on the text or visual prompts fed to them — Apple has had to play catch-up. Some features Apple touted for iPhone no doubt have Android users crowing, “We’ve been there, done that.”

For example, an upcoming iOS 18 tool called Clean Up lets you exorcise the photo bomber or unseemly objects in the background of an otherwise exquisite image you’ve shot. It’s a near copycat to the Magic Eraser photo editing feature that’s been on Google Pixels and certain other Android handsets for a while.

And a Smart Reply feature with auto-generated email responses coming to Apple’s Mail app mirrors tools in Google’s Gmail.

Apple Intelligence can help you summarize long emails.

Source: Apple Inc.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT gets cozy with virtual assistant Siri

Apple struck a deal with OpenAI, the company that kick-started the gen-AI frenzy with ChatGPT 3.0’s launch toward the end of 2022. Later this year as part of Apple Intelligence, consumers will be able to leverage the freshest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4o, when prompting Siri for certain queries and tasks.

To maintain your privacy, Siri will ask your permission before it shares questions, documents or images with ChatGPT.

The ChatGPT integration with Siri will be free, but if you already pay OpenAI $20 a month for more advanced features, you’ll be able to take advantage of those features within Apple’s devices. As part of the arrangement, OpenAI will not store user requests and your IP address will be obscured.

Apple said it is open to working with other companies in the AI sphere, which could mean either Google’s Gemini or Microsoft Copilot or both. But nothing concrete was announced.

Siri will also be getting what Apple refers to as “onscreen awareness.” If a friend texts his new address, you can ask Siri to add the address to the person’s contact listing.

5 additional upcoming developments

Here are some of the other AI features coming to Apple’s devices that older adults might find useful.

1. Categorize mail. Apple’s Mail app will classify incoming emails as Primary, Promotions, Transactions and Updates, similar to what Google does with Gmail.

2. Correspond with assistance. Rewrite, Proofread and Summarize are among the writing tools you’ll be able to access when you’re crafting a blog post, preparing a memo for your boss or sending a party invitation. The tools will automatically turn up inside Apple’s own Keynote, Mail, Notes, Pages and Safari applications as well as some third-party apps.

You can choose a writing style, having Apple generate content that is more concise, friendly or professional. You’re already seeing similar writing tools on Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and yes, ChatGPT.

ChatGPT may play a role here, too. Still, Apple’s grip on the market will bring these tools to a lot more people.

3. Generate creative images. Apple Intelligence can help you get creative with photos, images and GIFs. If you’re writing to tell your mom that she’s your hero, it might suggest an image showing her wearing a superhero cape.

If you really want to get playful, you can type out a description to (on the fly) generate what Apple calls “Genmojis,” custom emojis, sometimes of friends and families based on their photos.

Try something like, “Show Lyle as an astronaut.”

And a standalone Image Playground app will let you generate images in one of three styles — Animation, Illustration and Sketch — though these same tools will also be part of Messages, Notes, Pages and other apps.

4. Prioritize notifications. The iPhone promises to more intelligently deliver notifications for stuff you’ll want or need to see right away while keeping unnecessary distractions at bay. You’ll be notified when your takeout delivery is ready or on the way, or to pick up the grandkids at the airport.

5. Take action. You can ask Siri to carry out certain tasks on your behalf: “Pull up all the files that my boss shared with me last week,” or “Play the podcast that my wife sent the other day.”

If your afternoon meeting got canceled and you have to reschedule later on a day that you’re also attending your daughter’s dance recital, Apple Intelligence may be able to help. It already knows who your daughter is, her recital location, the time the performance starts and the predicted traffic between your office and the theater. It can create a plan that might let you make your meeting and get to the recital on time.

“Understanding this kind of personal context is essential for delivering truly helpful intelligence,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president for software engineering, said during his WWDC presentation. “But it has to be done right. You should not have to hand over all the details of your life to be warehoused and analyzed in someone’s AI cloud. With Apple Intelligence, powerful intelligence goes hand in hand with powerful privacy.”

This story, published June 11, 2024, was updated with new survey results that include smartphone users older than 60.