Apple WWDC 2024: Apple just called their AI, AI

The recent Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 keynote was one of the most significant in the event’s history. In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of technological innovation, Apple took a different approach. The first half of the keynote did not mention AI at all, which was surprising given the current tech trends. However, in the second half, Apple unveiled numerous AI-driven features, branding it as “Apple Intelligence.” In a bold and straightforward move, Apple just called their AI, AI.

As an AI developer, I find it fascinating to see how Apple AI is positioning itself against other industry giants like Samsung’s Galaxy AI and Google’s Pixel 8.

The Journey to Apple Intelligence

Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple, introduced Apple Intelligence with palpable excitement, emphasizing that this moment had been long in the making. He highlighted the potential of generative models and the unique approach Apple is taking to make these models truly personal and privacy-centric.

“We’re tremendously excited about the power of generative models. And there are already some really impressive chat tools out there that perform a vast array of tasks using world knowledge. But these tools know very little about you or your needs.”

Personalized Intelligence Across Devices

With the release of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple is bringing a new level of intelligence to its devices. Apple Intelligence is designed to understand and act on your personal context, making your interactions more relevant and efficient. It seamlessly integrates with the core of your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, ensuring your privacy is protected at every step.

“Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that puts powerful generative models right at the core of your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It draws on your personal context to give you intelligence that’s most helpful and relevant for you.”

Capabilities of Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence is packed with features that enhance your everyday experiences. From understanding and creating language to generating images and taking action across your apps, it simplifies interactions and saves time. One of the standout capabilities I noticed is its deep natural language understanding, powered by large language models built into the system.

“For example, your iPhone can prioritize your notifications to minimize unnecessary distractions while ensuring you don’t miss something important. Apple Intelligence also powers brand new writing tools that you can access system-wide to feel more confident in your writing.”

Visual Expression and Actionable Intelligence

Apple Intelligence also offers a range of image-related capabilities, allowing users to create original images for more expressive conversations. By understanding the people in your photo library, you can personalize images for messages, making interactions more engaging.

“You can create images in three unique styles—sketch, illustration, and animation. In addition to messages, this experience is built into apps throughout the system, like Notes, Freeform, Keynote, and Pages.”

The ability to take action across your apps is another key feature of Apple Intelligence. It can perform tasks based on your requests, such as pulling up specific files, showing photos of loved ones, or playing a podcast shared by a friend. This orchestration of actions across apps is designed to save you time and effort.

“Apple Intelligence is grounded in your personal information and context, with the ability to retrieve and analyze the most relevant data from across your apps, as well as to reference the content on your screen.”

Privacy-First Architecture

One of the most impressive aspects of Apple Intelligence during the WWDC presentation is its commitment to privacy. The system relies on on-device processing, ensuring that our personal data is not collected or stored externally. Apple has integrated this processing deeply into their devices, leveraging their advanced silicon to power the generative models.

“With Apple Intelligence, powerful intelligence goes hand in hand with powerful privacy. Let me tell you more about its architecture and how it’s built with privacy at the core.”

Apple has also introduced Private Cloud Compute, which allows the system to handle more complex requests without compromising your privacy. This innovative approach ensures that your data is used exclusively to fulfill your requests and is never stored or accessed by Apple.

Transforming Apps and Experiences

The presentation also highlighted how Apple Intelligence will transform various apps and experiences across iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. From enhancing Siri to providing powerful writing tools and fun visual ways to express yourself, the new capabilities are set to revolutionize how we interact with our devices.

“Right off the bat, you’ll see Siri’s got a new look. Let me show you.”

Siri, Apple’s intelligent assistant, is getting a significant upgrade with deeper integration, richer language understanding, and the ability to maintain conversational context. These enhancements make Siri more natural, contextually relevant, and personal.

“Siri also maintains conversational context, so I can follow up and say, create an event for a hike there tomorrow at 9 a.m.”

Apple is laying the groundwork for new ways Siri will support you, including extensive product knowledge and on-screen awareness, making it even more capable and helpful in your daily tasks.

The Personal Touch of Siri with Apple Intelligence

One of the standout features of Apple Intelligence is the enhanced capabilities of Siri, making it more personal and context-aware. This isn’t just about asking for the weather or setting reminders—Siri now has the power to assist you in ways that were previously unimaginable.

Imagine you’re trying to remember a book recommendation from a friend. Whether it was shared via email, text, or a note, Siri can find it for you effortlessly. The ability to extract data from various sources and input it directly into forms, like retrieving your driver’s license number from a photo, showcases Siri’s advanced understanding and action capabilities.

“Siri is going to be able to help me do this so easily. Siri, when is my mom’s flight landing? What’s awesome is that Siri actually cross-references flight details that my mom shared with me by email with real-time flight tracking to give me her up-to-date arrival time.”

I recall a recent incident when I was juggling multiple apps to find my friend’s flight details, only to end up calling him for the information. If Siri can truly streamline such tasks, it could save us all a lot of trouble.

Apple Intelligence is designed to integrate seamlessly into our workflow across iPad and Mac, transforming Siri into a more intuitive and helpful assistant. Whether it’s planning a trip, organizing meetings, or tracking down information, Siri can handle it all without the need to switch between apps.

“Thanks to the capabilities of Apple Intelligence, this year marks the start of a new era for Siri.”

Optimistically, this could save us all a lot of time and frustration. No more fumbling between apps to find crucial information. On the flip side, there’s always a concern about how smoothly these integrations will work in real-world scenarios. Galaxy AI and Pixel 8 have also made strides in integration, but Apple’s tight hardware-software synergy might offer a smoother experience.

Enhanced Writing Tools for Clearer Communication

For AI developers and professionals who rely heavily on written communication, Apple Intelligence brings a suite of writing tools designed to enhance clarity and style. These tools, available system-wide, offer features like rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text, ensuring your messages and documents are polished and professional.

“Rewrite gives you different versions of what you’ve written, so you can choose the one you like best. This is great for making sure your cover letter for that job you’re excited for lands perfectly.”

These tools are not limited to Mail but are integrated into various apps, including third-party ones, making it easier to maintain a consistent and refined tone across all your communications. I remember spending hours fine-tuning an email to a client, worrying about the tone and clarity. If these tools can truly deliver, it would be a game-changer for my workflow as well.

Smart Reply and Inbox Management

Managing a busy inbox is a common challenge, and Apple Intelligence simplifies this with Smart Reply and enhanced email summaries. These features help you respond quickly and efficiently by suggesting appropriate responses based on the email’s content and summarizing long emails, allowing you to grasp the key points at a glance.

“Instead of previewing the first few lines of each email that don’t always convey the most useful information, you can now see summaries visible right from your email list.”

The idea of a smarter inbox is certainly appealing. We all know the pain of sifting through countless emails, trying to find what’s important. If Apple Intelligence can truly streamline this process, it could be a significant productivity boost. Google’s Pixel 8 has also focused heavily on improving email management with its AI, but Apple’s deep integration might provide a more cohesive experience across devices.

Visual Expression with Genmoji and Image Playground

Expressing yourself visually is more fun and creative with Apple Intelligence. Introducing Genmoji, a new feature that allows you to create personalized emojis directly from the keyboard, Apple Intelligence helps you find the perfect visual representation for your emotions and messages.

“Leveraging the power of Apple Intelligence, you can create Genmoji on-device right in the keyboard and match any moment perfectly.”

Additionally, the Image Playground offers a new way to create playful and original images quickly. By selecting themes, accessories, and styles, you can generate unique images for your messages, presentations, or social media posts, all on-device.

Creating custom emojis and images sounds like a lot of fun and could add a new layer of personalization to our digital interactions. Samsung’s Galaxy AI offers similar features with AR Emoji, but Apple’s Genmoji and Image Playground seem to be more intuitive and seamlessly integrated into the messaging and creative apps.

Enhanced Photo and Video Management

Apple Intelligence also enhances your photo and video management, making it easier to edit, search, and create memories. The new cleanup tool removes distracting objects from photos, and natural language search capabilities allow you to find specific moments in your photo and video library.

“Searching videos is also more powerful with the ability to find a particular moment in the middle of a video clip.”

Creating memory movies is now a breeze, with Apple Intelligence automatically selecting and arranging photos and videos to craft a narrative arc, complete with the perfect soundtrack.

I remember spending hours piecing together video clips and photos for a family event, struggling to get the right flow and feel. If Apple Intelligence can handle this seamlessly, it would be a true time-saver. But again, the proof will be in the pudding. Will the AI truly understand which moments are the most precious, or will it miss out on those subtle details that make our memories special?

Audio Transcription and Summarization

Recording and transcribing audio is another powerful feature of Apple Intelligence, available in the Notes and Phone apps. This capability ensures you capture detailed notes and generate summaries, helping you stay present in meetings and calls while keeping track of important information.

“Apple Intelligence generates a summary to help you recall the key points at a glance.”

The ability to quickly transcribe and summarize audio could be incredibly useful for busy professionals. No more scrambling to jot down notes during a call or meeting. However, as anyone who’s used transcription services knows, accuracy is everything. Will Apple Intelligence rise to the challenge?

Integration with OpenAI

One of the most intriguing aspects of Apple Intelligence is its integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.0. While most AI operations are handled on-device using Apple-built models, more complex queries can be directed to OpenAI’s servers. This integration is designed with privacy in mind, as Apple ensures that user data is not stored or connected to individual profiles.

Final thoughts

The introduction of Apple Intelligence shows Apple’s commitment to integrating advanced AI capabilities into their devices while maintaining user privacy. It’s clear that we’re entering a new age with Apple, where intelligence features will play a significant role in enhancing user experiences. We’re excited to see how Apple Intelligence evolves and what it can do for users. Stay tuned for more deep dives into these updates. Thanks for reading!