Apple finally unveils its own AI: Meet, Apple Intelligence

At this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024, Apple just announced "Apple Intelligence," a new suite of AI features designed for the iPhone, Mac, and other devices. This marks a significant shift for the company, which previously avoided using the term "artificial intelligence" in reference to its machine learning capabilities.

Apple has trailed behind companies like Google and Microsoft, which have been advancing rapidly in generative AI since OpenAI's breakthroughs in 2022. With Apple Intelligence, the company is now making its move to catch up.

Apple Intelligence is designed to enhance user experience across apps by performing tasks automatically. It can manage notifications, draft messages, and summarise text in mail and other applications. Additionally, it allows for cross-app functionality, such as playing a podcast sent by a contact.

Furthermore, a newly redesigned Siri will leverage the capabilities of Apple Intelligence, providing more intuitive and context-aware interactions.

Privacy remains a cornerstone of Apple's approach. The company emphasises that these AI features will be processed on-device, ensuring user data remains private. However, this functionality requires an A17 Pro or M-series chip. Apple has also introduced a "semantic index" to pull personal details as needed across apps.

For instances where AI needs to connect to the cloud, Apple has introduced "Private Cloud," which ensures that data is not stored on servers and remains inaccessible to Apple. The company has committed to having independent experts verify these privacy claims.