Apple (NASDAQ:) on Monday unveiled new features to enter the artificial intelligence (AI) race, bringing “Apple Intelligence” to iPad, iPhone and Macs.
“We are excited to begin a new chapter of Apple innovation. Apple Intelligence will transform what users can do with our products – and what our products can do for our users,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.
He said the AI can be accessed in a “completely private and secure manner.”
The announcement came at the company’s World Wide Developers Conference as Apple works to catch up with companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Google (NASDAQ:) that have taken early leadership roles in AI.
Changes to Siri
Apple relies on OpenAI’s ChatGPT to make its virtual assistant Siri smarter and more helpful.
Siri’s optional access to ChatGPT will be free for all iPhone users and will be available on other Apple products once the option is integrated into the next generation of Apple operating systems.
ChatGPT subscribers will be able to easily sync their existing accounts when using the iPhone, and they will receive more advanced features than free users.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sat in the front row of the packed conference, which was attended by developers from more than 60 countries.
“Together with Apple, we are making it easier for people to benefit from the power of AI,” Altman said in a statement.
In addition to allowing Siri to tap into ChatGPT’s wealth of knowledge, Apple is giving its 13-year-old virtual assistant a major overhaul that aims to make it more personable and versatile, even though it currently handles about 1.5 billion requests a day.
According to Monday’s presentation, he will be able to handle more tasks.
The new features will only work on newer models of Apple products because the devices require advanced processors.
iMessage is set to change
Apple also announced that it would introduce a technology called Rich Communications Service (RCS) for its iMessage app.
It is intended to improve the security of text messages between iPhones and Android devices, but will not change the blue bubbles that indicate text messages from other iPhones and green bubbles from Android devices.
Another new feature in the iPhone’s messaging app is the ability to write a text in advance (or have an AI tool compose it) and schedule a specific time for it to be sent automatically.