Technology enthusiasts have been bombarded with news from the field of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent months. Industry giants such as Microsoft and Google have invested heavily in the AI sector, and smartphone manufacturer Samsung has already announced an entire AI ecosystem for its devices. Apple, which is otherwise so innovative, has remained noticeably quiet on the subject in recent months – nothing regarding AI plans has leaked out from the Californian manufacturer.
That has now changed at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), as the company introduced its new operating system iOS 18 and revealed its collaboration with ChatGPT creator OpenAI. But what does that mean for iPhone users? We’ve taken a look at the new AI features iPhone users can look forward to.
Apple is working with ChatGPT – This is what iPhone users can expect from Siri, iOS and Co. in the future
For the Start of WWDC 2024 Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that they had entered into a strategic partnership with the company OpenAI and would integrate its chatbot ChatGPT into their own devices. This will be done via a new system called “Apple Intelligence” and described by Cook as “the next big step”. We took a look at the online presentation of the latest features and summarized how ChatGPT will be integrated into iPhones in the future – probably as early as the iPhone 16 generation:
- Advanced Siri integration: Long awaited by users, Apple’s in-house voice assistant Siri is finally getting a long-awaited upgrade. The integration of ChatGPT will make Siri more intelligent and able to respond to complex requests that require specialized knowledge. Users will be able to ask Siri questions in the future, which will then be supported by the ChatGPT database to provide a well-founded answer. This will improve Siri’s ability to assist in everyday life using the iPhone. Users will also be able to interact with Siri via text. According to the technology portal, this could change CNET prove particularly useful when the spoken word is not ideal for a request. Wall Street Journal points out in an analysis that Siri could now be “promoted” to a full-fledged assistant.
- System-wide writing tools: The new writing tools support users according to Apple to improve their writing. Features such as text rewriting, grammar checks and summarizing are now integrated system-wide in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. These tools are available in iPhone applications such as Mail, Notes, Pages and even third-party apps and help users adjust the tone and style of their texts depending on the context. With features such as “Rewrite”, “Proofread” and “Summarize” users can select different versions of text, improve grammar and style using ChatGPT and efficiently summarize text content. In the future, these tools will not only provide suggestions but also explanations of the proposed changes.
- Image Playground: “Playground” is designed to allow users to quickly and easily generate images based on their input. This includes a selection of styles such as animation, illustration and sketch and is integrated directly into apps such as Messages, but can also be used in a standalone app. According to Apple, this should allow images to be personalized even more. Although the direct connection between Image Playground and ChatGPT is less obvious, since ChatGPT primarily processes text and not images, the underlying AI technology could be used to process descriptions and select appropriate image styles.
- Genmojis: This new feature allows users to create their own emojis (Genmojis) by simply typing a description. These Genmojis can then be used in messages or shared as reactions in chats. Users can also create Genmojis for friends and family based on their photos. According to CNET GPT’s natural language processing will also be increasingly used to generate more precise emojis.
Important in the context of the partnership between OpenAI and Apple: the “Private Cloud Compute” concept. Apple has announced that the AI-based requests will be processed on Apple’s own servers. These are specially secured to ensure that users’ data remains private, while at the same time offering sufficient computing power to enable more complex tasks, such as processing larger amounts of data or executing AI models.
However, not everyone is happy about this form of cooperation. Recently, Tesla boss Elon Musk, probably the most popular critic warned about Apple’s cooperation with OpenAIHe even announced that he would ban Apple devices from his companies in the future “if Apple integrates with OpenAI at the operating system level,” which he believes would be an “unacceptable security breach.” However, Musk also has a contentious history with OpenAI boss Sam Altman, as Musk was involved in the founding of OpenAI before leaving the company in 2018. Musk had, according to the Mirror has since sued and accuses the company of having abandoned its original mission for the benefit of humanity. Musk has also lost his love for Apple since the tech company withdrew advertising funding from X (formerly Twitter) last year after Musk supported an anti-Semitic post.
By the way: While we have already heard a lot about the latest features in iOS 18 at WWDC 2024, Apple fans still have to make do with rumors regarding the iPhone 16 and its Pro models. A foldable iPhone 16 already seems to be off the table, but rumors suggest that two new colors will be added to the iPhone portfolio.