Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., greets customers during the first day of sales of Apple’s latest products at the Apple Store at Apple’s Peth Avenue store in New York, U.S., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.
Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Apple On Monday, it released a software update for iPhones, iPads and Macs that includes Apple Intelligence by default for users with supported devices.
The updates, iOS 18.3, iPados 18.3 and MacOS Sequoia 15.3, also disable AI digests for newswhich have gained a reputation for twisting push news to present incorrect facts.
The release is a milestone in the introduction of Apple Intelligence, the company’s artificial intelligence suite. Apple Intelligence is a critical product for Apple as it seeks to differentiate its products from competitors with an AI system integrated into iPhones and other products.
Although Apple Intelligence was already featured in the company’s marketing for the latest iPhones, the rollout was deliberate and limited. Apple says this will allow testing of new features and ensure there is enough server capacity. The entire Apple Intelligence Suite is still officially in beta, and is only available in a few English-speaking countries.
Apple’s move to turn on Apple Intelligence by default is a step towards a more complete representation of the feature. Previously, users with supported iPhones — models released in 2024 as well as 2023 “Pro”-level models — were asked to turn on Apple Intelligence when setting up their phone, a process that involved downloading the AI model from the Internet and some installation .
With the latest updates, Apple Intelligence will be turned on by default when the latest software update is installed, expanding the number of users exposed to the software. Apple Intelligence is marketed as being able to transcribe text, generate images and summarize long emails and message threads.
“For users new to or upgrading to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be enabled automatically during iPhone,” Apple said in the developer release notes for the update.
Users will need to go to the Apple Intelligence page in the Settings app to turn it off, according to Apple.
The latest software update also includes one of the most prominent examples to date, Apple, bringing back the AI feature after it generated controversy and subpar results. Apple Joins Google and Microsoft as companies were forced to push back on new AI features after creating harmful content or “hallucinations” that weren’t in reality.
Apple Intelligence can take piles of notifications and simplify them into a three-sentence notification. However, the BBC and other news outlets revealed in December that the feature could feed news headlines with incorrect information.
Earlier this month, Apple’s system led notifications From the BBC sports app to say that “Brazilian tennis player, Rafael Nadal, is coming out as gay.” Nadal is Spanish and married to Maria Francisco Perello.
The latest update disables Apple Intelligence for News and Entertainment Apps. Apple Intelligence has also been updated to display all notifications generated by its AI in italics, indicating which notifications are generated by the generative AI and which are pushed by the app itself.
“We are pleased that Apple has listened to our concerns and is pausing the news feed feature,” a BBC spokesperson told CNBC.
Apple told CNBC earlier this month that its news notification summaries would return in a future update.
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