Apple Intelligence Announced at WWDC 2024: Apple Joins the AI Race
Apple's AI plans are taking shape at WWDC 2024.
Apple Intelligence, the company's long-awaited deeper push into AI, made its debut at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.
AI has played an important role in Apple products for years. But the widespread popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot has shined a bigger spotlight on generative AI, or AI models trained on large swaths of data that can create content in response to prompts. As rivals such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft have been infusing the tech into their most important products, all eyes have been on Apple to see how the company plans to bring generative AI to its own products. At WWDC 2024, we're finally getting that answer.
Read more: WWDC 2024: How to Watch and What to Expect
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Siri is a big part of Apple's AI push. Siri is becoming more natural, relevant and personal with its update. You'll be able to speak in more natural language, and Siri should be able to understand you even if you stumble all over your words. Since it understands context, you can ask follow up questions, and Siri should know what you mean. Apple's virtual assistant will support text input as well.
Siri is also getting better at helping you use your iPhone since it will be able to answer questions about specific iPhone features. Over the course of the next year, more Siri updates will be coming. Siri is getting on-screen awareness so that it can take action based on what's on your phone's screen. An example might include adding someone's address to their contact card after receiving it in a text message.
Siri will be able to take actions within apps, such as editing a video. It'll also draw on your personal context to help you accomplish tasks. If you ask it when a love one's flight is landing, for example, it'll cross reference flight data that may have been shared with you through a text message or email. Siri will also be able to incorporate other information, like upcoming lunch reservations, so you can ask it how long it will take to get from the airport to the restaurant without switching between apps.
As part of Apple Intelligence, your iPhone will be able to summarize notifications. There are also writing tools for proofreading text across Mail, Notes, Safari and other apps.
Aside from language, Apple Intelligence offers image capabilities, too. You'll be able to create original images, such as an image of a friend surrounded by cake and balloons for their birthday. There are three styles for image generation: sketch, illustration and animation.
Apple Intelligence can also take actions on your behalf. You'll be able to ask it to pull up files from last week, play a podcast that a friend or loved one sent the other day and more.
Apple emphasized the importance of understanding personal context when delivering answers and carrying out tasks. It can understand multiple factors like traffic, your schedule and your contacts to help you understand whether you can make it to an event on time.
Apple also explained how many of its models run on device, which is generally considered to be more private since information doesn't have to leave the device. At times when a task may require larger models, Apple will use a system called Private Cloud Compute. Models will run on servers Apple has specifically created that use Apple Silicon. Apple Intelligence will decide whether a task can be processed on device, and if it requires additional computing power, it'll use the Private Cloud Compute process.
Apple's announcement follows similar moves from Samsung, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. Samsung announced a collection of new AI features called Galaxy AI for its Galaxy phones in January. Galaxy AI, which debuted on the Galaxy S24 series, includes tools that can translate phone calls in real time, erase and resize objects in photos and preview video clips in slow motion.
Google started 2024 by announcing Circle to Search, a feature for Android phones that makes it possible to launch a Google search just by circling or scribbling on a subject shown on screen. At its I/O conference last month, Google showed how its Gemini assistant will be able to understand more about the apps that are being used.
Apple also announced new software updates for all of its major platforms at WWDC, including new versions of iOS, MacOS, WatchOS, iPadOS and more. The company usually introduces its new iPhone and Apple Watch models in September.
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