Apple Intelligence will premiere without major features and only in English (USA) | Technology

Almost two years after the launch of ChatGPT, which revolutionized the tech industry in November 2022, Apple is introducing its generative artificial intelligence (AI) system. New smart features are now coming with iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 software updates for your devices this Monday. EL PAÍS had access to them before the premiere and tested them thoroughly: they stand out for their comfort and ease of use, but cannot compete with the impressive capabilities that competitors have demonstrated during the current race to promote all types of AI with AI technological tools.

When Apple Intelligence became the undisputed star of the annual WWDC software conference last June, the Californian tech giant billed it as a new form of “personal intelligence” rather than artificial intelligence. He highlighted the ability to understand personal context and combine it with generative AI models to deliver intelligent features tailored to each user’s experience, which Apple promotes along with the sophisticated ability to create unique images and emojis simply by describing them.

None of these stellar features are available when the new AI service launches: it launches with a very small first batch of new features that are marked as tests. beta and this does not make Apple devices the smartest in their class. Most of the same features that are now appearing in the latest iPhones – only the 15 Pro, 16 and 16 Pro – have long been available in smartphones the latest from Google or Samsung and in Microsoft apps.

For now, only those using their iPhones, iPads, and Macs in US English will have access to Apple Intelligence. This new AI will open up to additional varieties of English in the coming months, but won’t reach other languages ​​until 2025. And although it can be used in many countries outside the US, the system will be blocked on phones and tablets. in the European Union (EU), although it is not adapted to the relevant community rules, the so-called Digital Markets Act (DMA). So, unless you’re using a US account, the only way to try out these new features in the EU starting this Monday is to have an Apple computer with an M1 processor or higher and update your operating system to macOS 15.1 as soon as it becomes available . .

Therefore, the tests conducted by this newspaper focused on the ability to test Apple Intelligence on computers. After performing this update, changing the Mac language – and Siri – to English (US), an option appears in Settings > Siri to request Apple Intelligence activation: you are then put on a waiting list and in just a few minutes – At least during EL PAÍS test time – now you can use smart news. The highlight of this first wave, which awaits the most impressive features with new updates, are the writing tools that allow you to correct, rewrite and summarize texts. They are currently available in Apple’s own apps such as Notes, Messages, Mail, Safari, as well as other text editors such as Microsoft Word. To use these features, simply select the text and select the Writing Tools option from the Edit menu, which is also available in the quick menu that appears when you click the text again.

The first option you see is used to view and correct texts – in English, Proofreading—. In tests, it showed adequate accuracy for journalistic texts published in English by native speakers. Of course, this is still the new spelling, punctuation and grammar checking interface that computers have been using for decades. The new intelligence begins to become more obvious and useful in the next option, rewriting: it serves both to improve writing, making it clearer and more direct, and to write text in natural language from a few telegraphic phrases.

Writing with AI

Unlike other competing systems, the initial version of Apple Intelligence only lets you choose three additional tones—friendly, professional, and concise—rather than being able to specify a tone with specific instructions about what you need the text for. And at the moment, these AI-enabled writing tools also do not allow you to compose text from scratch according to some instructions. These two capabilities will arrive with the next batch of smart news – in December, with updates to iOS 18.2 and macOS 15.2 – which will integrate ChatGPT for the most complex queries.

Currently, the third function of writing tools allows you to summarize text to shorten it and make it easier to read and understand. There are three options for summarizing: summarizing in a paragraph, in a scatter plot, or in a table. In the days leading up to the release of Apple Intelligence, the quality of these summaries varied depending on the text selected for testing; and, as happens with other generative AI systems, in some cases hallucinations appear that can lead to startling misunderstandings.

The system, which has been in testing for several months, allows you to evaluate the results and send comments to Apple. The overall impression is that these writing tools are a very practical aid for improving your writing in a language (US English only for now), whether you are a native speaker or have more limited ability to express yourself. Moreover, Apple’s clear and simple way of implementing them promises to bring generative artificial intelligence to many users who are still on the cusp of the technological revolution that began with ChatGPT.

Other features coming with the debut of Apple Intelligence are smart replies in Messages & Mail, or automatic summaries of emails, messages, notifications, voice notes, or calls. In the case of Safari, these summaries are especially practical and accurate, which are offered when viewing web pages (currently only in English) when reading mode is activated. And in the Photos app, you can automatically remove objects or people, or search for images by typing what you want to find. Again, in all of these cases, nothing goes beyond what numerous applications and chatbots from other companies using generative artificial intelligence have already offered.

Update Siri without losing privacy

The Apple company, in a recent interview with its vice president of software Craig Federighi, admitted that the release of Apple Intelligence is just the first step and that it will continue to gradually expand the system. Federighi’s priorities are privacy and caution in implementing this technology correctly and responsibly over many years, rather than catching up with its competitors in the AI ​​race as quickly as possible. The new features the new system brings to Siri are another example of this multi-step strategy.

At this point in this initial stage, Siri has a new lookalso responds to input instructions rather than just verbal requests, it is able to maintain a chain of different questions and understand the user if they get stuck in a conversation or change what they say in the middle of their question. In addition, the voice assistant can answer questions about Apple products; For example, it is useful to learn how to change your computer settings. However, the new, truly smarter Siri that users have been demanding for years will not appear until spring 2025. In addition to answering complex questions with ChatGPT, this is when (with iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 updates) Siri will be able to understand the personal questions that Apple already promotes in its advertising, such as: “What time is the flight arriving?” ?” “My mother?” or “What is the name of the man I met at the Museum of Modern Art last month?”

To handle these personal issues, Apple’s AI must use sensitive information processed by apps on your computers, tablets, and phones. The company claims that, to protect privacy, the processing will whenever possible be carried out within the device itself: in these cases, neither personal data nor texts that can now be corrected, rewritten or summarized will be transmitted to servers like those in use. OpenAI for processing questions in ChatGPT. Only for the most complex tasks information will be sent to the cloud. To achieve this, Apple has promised that the information will be transferred encrypted to its new private cloud and will never be stored there. Last week, the tech giant announced that it had opened up the system so independent researchers could test its security, and that it would financially reward those who found vulnerabilities.

With the release of Apple Intelligence, it will begin widespread adoption by millions of users, truly testing both the robustness of Apple’s early generative AI tools and the privacy of those processes in the coming months. However, the capabilities of this system are limited – for now it will only work in US English; and will never do so on phones before the iPhone 15 Pro – giving the tech multinational the opportunity to make improvements ahead of the system opening in 2025 to new languages ​​such as Spanish, Chinese, French or Japanese. Since no specific internationalization date has been announced, the company has not said when it will make its system compliant with the European directive. Until that happens, EU iPhone and iPad users will continue to have limited access to the new artificial intelligence system.