Every Bit of AI Apple Revealed at WWDC 24

Quick Links

• Language-Based Apple Intelligence Capabilities

• AI Image Generation Features

• AI Comes to the Photos App

• Enhanced AI-Powered Siri

• Apple's ChatGPT Integration

• Private Cloud Compute and Apple's AI Privacy

Summary

• Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features to help you with tasks like writing emails and creating personalized emojis.
• Apple prioritizes user privacy by running AI tasks on your device whenever possible, with secure cloud backups for complex requests.
• This new technology empowers you to express yourself better and interact with your photos and devices more naturally.

It's been a somewhat difficult period for Apple. As we've seen in recent years, the Cupertino tech giant isn't leading the way with cutting-edge designs and technology like it once did, and that has become increasingly apparent during the AI surge. Quite simply, Apple lagged behind.

However, that all changed at Apple WWDC 24, where it unveiled a suite of AI features called Apple Intelligence. It offers tools to write better emails, create custom emojis, and even generate images based on your descriptions. Its focus on user privacy keeps most processing on-device, with secure cloud backups for complex tasks.

Language-Based Apple Intelligence Capabilities

The first category of AI tech Apple displayed were language-based, adding what amounts to a language model that can process words and help improve your experience, integrated into iOS and macOS.

Writing Tools

Apple

Apple's Writing Tools is designed to help you generate content across your Apple devices using AI. As long as you're using the latest version of macOS or iOS on compatible hardware, Apple Intelligence can help you rewrite, proofread, and summarize text across all the apps and features that offer text input.

While scrolling through your inbox in the Mail app, for example, Writing Tools can summarize emails and place them in snippets, so you can easily get the gist without opening the email.

Priority Messages and Notifications

Apple

Because the model can analyze words, it can "read" your emails and notifications and figure out which ones are urgent. The important emails will float to the top of your inbox, and the priority notifications will be at the top of your notification stack. Apple has also extended this feature into Focus, where Reduce Interruptions will only allow notifications that need immediate action.

Smart Reply

Apple

While replying to emails in Mail, an AI feature called Smart Reply will provide suggestions to answer questions posed in the email. This way, you can be sure you didn't miss anything vital when crafting a response.

AI Image Generation Features

Many folks use AI to generate unique images with tools like DALL-E or Copilot. So, as you might expect, Apple is integrating generative AI image creation into Apple Intelligence with some unique takes and tools.

Image Playground and Image Wand

Apple

Image Playground is an image generation app available on supported iPads and iPhones. You can use it to create three distinct styles of art: Animation, Illustration, and Sketch. All you do is type a description, pick a category, or even select someone from your personal library, and it will create an image based on that style.

While Image Playground has a standalone app, it's also built into some supported apps, like Messages and Notes—and third-party apps with the API. On Notes, you can use it through an Apple Pencil feature called Image Wand that can transform sketches into full illustrations.

Genmoji

Apple

Have you ever looked through your emoji library and not found the right emoji to express yourself? Well, no longer; Genmojis are unique emojis you can create and share by prompting specific descriptions. You can use them in Tapbacks on Messages, share them as stickers, or use them as regular emojis.

AI Comes to the Photos App

Apple

The next category of AI features is those that can be found when interacting with your image library in the Photos app:

The AI integrations don't stop there: Apple is also bringing AI integrations to your image library in the Photos app.

Specific Photo Searches

Now that AI can separate objects and elements in a photo or video, you can be very specific about what you wish to find in the Photos app. You could type "Mom in a floral-patterned gown," and all the content you have related to that will appear in the results.

Memory Movie

You can also take these specific searches to Memories in Photos, and your device will create a memory with the theme you've described. Apple says it will suggest music that matches this theme and make a movie with a narrative arc.

Enhanced AI-Powered Siri

Apple

After years of Siri lagging behind Alexa and Google in the voice assistant race, Siri finally received a much-needed AI boost. Apple described it as a "new era" for Siri, and it's not wrong.

Now, Siri has more robust language-understanding capabilities, allowing you to speak with Siri more naturally, pausing or correcting yourself without it getting confused. The voice assistant now deeply understands context and maintains it across requests. Siri now works across apps and will draw from your digital experience while understanding what's onscreen at any moment. Additionally, you can text Siri by tapping the Home indicator bar twice if you'd rather not talk.

Apple gave an example of requesting Siri to save a friend's new address after they sent it via text by saying, "Add this address to his contact card" with the chat still open.

Apple's ChatGPT Integration

Apple

Finally, Apple has partnered with OpenAI to give its users access to ChatGPT. Any request Siri or Writing Tools can't handle, it will prompt you to give it permission to ask ChatGPT for help. While you can access ChatGPT through Apple Intelligence for free (and without an account), you will still need to connect your premium ChatGPT account to enjoy access to paid features.

Compose

Apple

Image Playground and Image Wand aren't available on macOS, but it has Compose instead. Compose uses OpenAI's DALL-E to generate images in whatever style you want, drawing from the selected text.

DALL-E is a paid ChatGPT feature—you will likely be unable to use Compose without linking to a subscribed account. That's one extra reason to keep a ChatGPT Plus sub if you were thinking of ditching it.

Private Cloud Compute and Apple's AI Privacy

To help ensure that all your AI requests are private, Apple has designed the AI to run locally. However, since AI needs a lot of processing power, iApple Intelligence is restricted to Apple silicon Macs and iPads, the iPhone 15 Pro/Max, and later.

However, even with Apple's excellent M-chips, not everything can run on your device, and the company has devised a solution: Private Cloud Compute. More complex requests are sent to larger server-based AI models running on Apple silicon that still remain private. Apple guarantees that your data is never stored and the cloud is used only for your requests. It backs this up with a transparency pledge, saying that anyone can verify their claims if they wish to.

Some privacy also extends to ChatGPT; OpenAI won't store requests, and all IP addresses are obscured. This is in combination with OpenAI's data use policies.

The lines between machine learning, AI, and algorithms are blurring with each passing day. There may be more AI behind Apple's revelations at WWDC 2024 (like Math Notes on the iPad). However, for the sake of simplicity, we've stuck to all the ones Apple has tagged as Apple Intelligence. That said, these are huge changes for both AI and the consumer technology industry as a whole, and we'd love to see where this technology leads.

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