Sources: hipertextual
Rumours ahead of WWDC 2024 claimed that the North American company was preparing several new features related to artificial intelligence. Most of them were Apple’s own, such as a revamped Siri. In addition, they were the result of an agreement with OpenAI, the most well-known AI startup of the moment. And, indeed, that is what happened. In the opening keynote of its conference for developers, the company led by Tim Cook has begun the era of Apple Intelligence.
The company has presented Apple Intelligence as a turning point in its strategy. First, it has had its own space at the end of the event, almost like One More Thing instead of mentioning it as another novelty of the rest of the operating systems. It has been Tim Cook himself who has given way to this specific segment, something that the executive only usually does when it comes to the most important announcements of the company.
It is important to remember, however, that artificial intelligence has actually been present in Apple devices for years. The algorithms that process each photograph taken by the iPhone are proof of this. However, after the emergence of tools such as ChatGPT, DALL-E or Gemini, which have revolutionised the sector and even part of society, Apple had to go a step further in its commitment.
Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence is based, as Tim Cook has explained, on five pillars: powerful, intuitive, integrated, personal and private. The company has spoken at length about this last point in particular. It is one of the factors that has always differentiated its products from those of the competition. And, in this new phase, it could not be different.
Apple says that much of Apple Intelligence processing happens locally, so the data doesn’t leave the device and remains under the owner’s control. To use this AI, in fact, you need a device with an A17 Pro, M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip. That is: the iPhone 15 Pro, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, one of the last three generations of iPad Pro, one of the last two generations of iPad Air, or one of the Macs with Apple Silicon.
However, the company will also use the cloud for some of its tasks. As they have acknowledged, the extra power that an external server can provide is necessary in certain situations. For these situations, the company has created Private Cloud Compute, a system that allows requests to be processed on the company’s own servers without storing personal data and with complete transparency. These servers are managed by Apple and use the company’s own chips.
When a user makes a request to their device, Apple Intelligence analyses whether it can be processed locally or requires the extra power provided by the servers, according to the company’s top software manager. If it is necessary to resort to the cloud, the product will share just the information to complete the task, in addition to applying multiple security measures during the process that preserve the user’s privacy.
The influence of Apple Intelligence is evident throughout the operating system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. For example, this AI can summarize documents, proofread your writing, create text from scratch, synthesize an email thread, prioritize notifications based on what they contain, create call transcripts, and even respond to emails for you with just a few prompts. It also powers a new focus mode called Reduce Interruptions that scans notifications and only lets through the truly urgent ones, like a text from your partner telling you when you have to pick up your daughter.
Siri Advance
The Apple Intelligence era has also seen Siri advance significantly. The company claims that its responses are much more natural, it can link concepts and maintain contextual conversations, it is able to answer many more questions than before and it even has more control over the operating system itself.
Siri also has a new design. When activated, the edges of the screen light up to indicate that it is working. A less intrusive and more attractive interface than previous generations.
Another thing Apple has highlighted is the greater context Siri has about us. In one of the demos, Siri is asked what time her mother’s plane lands. And the assistant, after analyzing conversations, emails and information from various apps, is able to answer the question without having to tell you the specific flight. Another example: if a friend shares a recipe with you, you don’t have to search through messages, emails or notes. Just say show me the tortilla recipe that Gerardo shared with me. And that’s it. Apple Intelligence and Siri take care of everything for you.
Apple has also announced a new API that will allow developers to more closely integrate their apps with the voice assistant.
Apple partners with OpenAI for its iOS18, macOS 15 Sequoia and iPadOS18 models
One of the most striking news of WWDC 2024 has been the agreement of the North American company with OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT and DALL-E. This agreement, however, is only one part of the entire AI strategy that the company has announced for Apple Intelligence.
Through this collaboration with OpenAI, Apple device users will be able to use ChatGPT to write texts or obtain more information on a topic without having to use the app. The chatbot will be integrated directly into the system’s menus and interfaces
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