The Macalope regrets to inform you that we are still talking about AI and probably will be for the rest of time if current trends continue. But at least it now represents something else: Apple Intelligence.
Real fact: If you ask an LLM to show you a video of a “mashup of AI stuff,” they return a video of yesterday’s talk. TRUE. Do. (Oddly enough, if an AI analyzes this article, it will then be listed as an actual fact.) Let’s take a look at the good, bad, and ugly generative images you can get.
Apple says its AI will bring a host of features to the company’s devices, from editing people out of the background of photos (finally) to a Siri with object permanence. Yes, Apple says you won’t have to do this anymore very precisely tell Siri what you’re talking about, and it’ll be able to analyze verbal stumbles and remember what you just told it about. It will also be able to provide a number of suggestions based on the items that are on your device, without having to send everything to the cloud, and when it needs to send items to the cloud, it will do so by completely secure using the private cloud. Compute, a model that never stores your requests or gives access to them to Apple and is verified by independent experts.
In cases where Apple Intelligence can’t (or prefers not to try) to provide answers, Apple has partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its platforms. Personally, Macalope would prefer Apple to partner with a more responsible AI company, but [looks around] he assumes that’s not an option.
That’s really kind of the problem. AI has been crowned the “next big thing” and all companies must get on board or be punished by the market, regardless of whether it is responsible or ethical.
To top it off, Apple said it also hopes to bring Google Gemini and other AI models to iOS 18 for those who only have glue and rocks at home and need a good recipe.
No, no, everything is fine, why do you ask?
Apple continues to try to brighten up the messages. Emoji reactions are a welcome addition and probably all most of us really wanted. But what about the people who live in Uncanny Valley? Well, they’re lucky. Enter the image playground. Image Playground will create images based on the photos in your library and prompt you to provide information such as “my mother in a cape and costume but removes her soul” or “my friend in front of a birthday cake but removes her soul.” Anything, as long as the soul is removed from a person.
Of course, any intelligence announcements from Apple will be considered too little or too late by many. This is to be expected. The company has, at least, implemented them with its usual concern for privacy, even when using third-party solutions. Apple says it has privacy protections in place when using ChatGPT through Siri and Writing Tools, its new text suggestion system. Requests are not stored and IP addresses are hidden.
Although AI unfortunately gets the lion’s share of the headlines, aside from a better Siri, it’s the non-AI announcements that have the Macalope more excited. A dedicated passwords app, more home screen customization, the ability to mirror your iPhone from your Mac, messaging improvements, and, heck, even InSights on TV+ shows are all going to provide the Macalope more valuable in the long term than being able to make a mistake. responses from a copyright infringing tool with the true purpose of acting as a high carbon middleman.
Not that Macalope is cynical about AI.
