Apple’s recent announcement at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) about their new service, Apple Intelligence, has caused a stir in the tech community. The service, which is a set of features embedded within popular Apple apps, marks the company’s biggest foray into generative AI. This move by Apple has surprised many, as the company had previously been low-key about its involvement in the AI space.
One of the standout features of Apple Intelligence is its integration with various Apple-branded apps, such as Safari, Mail, Photos, and Messages. Users will be able to benefit from AI-generated summaries of articles, grammar improvements in emails, auto-generated photo albums, custom AI-generated emoji and photos, and more. This comprehensive integration across Apple devices has received high praise from industry experts.
Steven Sinofsky, former president of the Windows Division at Microsoft and current board partner at Andreessen Horowitz, commended Apple’s work on Apple Intelligence, calling it “excellent.” He specifically highlighted Apple’s strong point of view on privacy and on-device processing. Sinofsky also compared Apple’s approach to that of Google and Microsoft, stating that Apple brings its own unique perspective to new technologies.
Similarly, Andrej Karpathy, an esteemed researcher and former director of artificial intelligence at Tesla, expressed his excitement about Apple Intelligence. He described it as a clever way to layer AI on top of the entire operating system and praised its multimodal capabilities.
However, not all reactions to Apple Intelligence have been positive. Some have raised concerns about the potential privacy risks associated with the service. Bilawal Sidhu, host of the TED Talks AI Show and a former Google engineer, compared Apple’s approach to Microsoft’s Recall feature and questioned the use of personal data and virtual private clouds.
Another aspect of Apple Intelligence that has garnered attention is its ability to generate custom imagery and emoji based on text prompts. Simon Willison, an open-source software developer, praised Apple’s approach to AI image generation. He highlighted the ethical considerations and the potential for AI-generated images to become more socially acceptable.
On the other hand, some criticized the cartoonish look of the AI-generated images, deeming them outdated. They believed that this style might appeal more to older users than to younger generations.
One significant impact of Apple’s announcement is that it poses a threat to third-party AI-powered apps and services. By integrating AI features into its native apps, Apple effectively eliminates the need for these third-party offerings.
There are also questions surrounding the training data used for Apple Intelligence’s AI models. Some users have raised concerns about the use of creators’ work without their permission. While an Apple executive mentioned that the models were trained on data from the public web and licensed data, the specifics remain unclear.
Overall, the introduction of Apple Intelligence has sparked a range of reactions from excitement to skepticism. Many industry experts see it as a significant step forward in generative AI, while others have voiced concerns about privacy and aesthetics. Only time will tell how Apple Intelligence will be received by users and how it will shape the future of AI.