What is Apple Intelligence?

Apple Intelligence represents the company’s serious dive into artificial intelligence, a move sparked by the AI revolution that started with OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. After restructuring internally and redirecting resources like shelving the long-awaited self-driving car project Apple focused on making its AI tools smart, accessible, and user-friendly.

The initial release is a “beta” version, meaning the software is still a work in progress, but it introduces features like a smarter Siri, tools to transcribe audio, and AI photo editing, aimed at improving everyday user experiences.

Key Features of Apple Intelligence

1. Audio Transcription One of the standout features is its ability to transcribe audio directly from Apple’s Voice Memos app. This feature automatically generates transcripts alongside the recordings for anyone who frequently records interviews, meetings, or conversations.
   In tests, Apple Intelligence even recognized when different people were speaking, creating separate paragraphs for each person. While it’s not perfect some mumbled words were misinterpreted the accuracy overall makes this a huge productivity booster.
2. Enhanced Siri Siri has long been Apple’s virtual assistant, but with Apple Intelligence, it gets a much-needed upgrade. Siri can now assist with more complex tasks within Apple’s ecosystem, such as explaining how to use features like Split View on an iPad. Though Siri still has some gaps, like difficulty with email edits, it’s becoming more intuitive and responsive.
3. Text Proofreading and Automatic Responses Apple Intelligence helps with writing, too. A new Proofread feature allows users to instantly fix punctuation or spelling errors. There’s also an automatic email response tool, which can generate pre-written replies. For instance, declining an email inquiry takes just one tap as the AI drafts a polite refusal.

Features That Still Need Work

1. Photo Cleanup Apple Intelligence’s Clean Up feature promises to remove unwanted objects or people from photos. However, this feature is not as reliable as advertised. In a family wedding photo, for example, removing background objects resulted in a jumble of distorted pixels. The same issue occurred when trying to erase a blanket from a couch in a pet photo. The potential is there, but this feature is still too inconsistent to be a reliable tool.
2. Text Summarization One of the most hyped aspects of Apple Intelligence is its ability to summarize long texts, including web articles, emails, and notes. The AI can shorten long documents with a single tap, generating a concise summary of key points.
   However, in practice, this feature has a tendency to hallucinate making errors that result from incomplete information. In one case, the AI misinterpreted an article on tuna species and made a misleading health recommendation. This issue, common with many AI models, suggests that the summarization tool still needs fine-tuning.

A Turning Point for Apple

Despite some limitations, Apple Intelligence marks the beginning of a significant shift in Apple’s approach to artificial intelligence. For now, the features may not be compelling enough to justify buying new hardware, but as the tools evolve and become more integrated, it’s clear that Apple is positioning itself as a major player in the AI space.

More advanced features, like integrating ChatGPT with Apple’s software (a feature expected in later updates), will further enhance the AI's capabilities. The long-term plan is to roll out even more powerful tools, such as AI systems that can sync data from multiple apps for more complex tasks.

Apple Intelligence will be available on the newest iPhones, like the iPhone 16 and last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, as well as newer iPads and Macs from the last four years. While it’s just getting started, this is Apple’s answer to the AI race, and it’s likely to keep evolving, adding more advanced tools as time goes on.

Conclusion

Apple Intelligence is set to change the way users interact with their Apple devices. With tools for transcription, smarter Siri responses, and writing assistance, Apple is making its products more intuitive and productive. While some features, like photo cleanup and text summarization, need more refinement, the software is a promising glimpse into Apple's AI future.

As AI continues to reshape the tech industry, Apple’s approach, combining user-friendly tools with cutting-edge innovation, positions it as a strong contender in the next phase of AI evolution. Apple Intelligence is just the beginning of a new era of smart, AI-powered devices.

Source : Apple’s A.I. Is Landing Soon on iPhones. Here’s What It’s Like.