Apple unveils AI strategy at WWDC2024
Bob Armstrong
12 June, 2024
Apple's highly anticipated developer conference, WWDC 2024, unveiled the tech giant's AI strategy amid rising competition from Google and Microsoft.
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2024, which took place on June 10th in Cupertino, announced updates for every platform, from iOS 18, macOS 15 (branded as Sequoia), and iPadOS 18 to watchOS 11 and Apple Vision Pro. However, the biggest news of the day was the launch of Apple Intelligence, the company's clever takeover of the AI acronym, which brings Siri to a whole new level.
According to Apple, AI-powered Siri will have "richer language-understanding capabilities," including contextual relevance, through a large language model (LLM) that indexes all your files, photos, contacts, and messages. (For the first time, Siri will answer typed queries too.)
AI smartphone integration is nothing new, but unlike Google Gemini and Android, Apple focuses on partnerships with OpenAI and other external LLM providers, which raises privacy concerns.
"Apple started its presentation on Apple Intelligence by talking about privacy...Most Apple Intelligence features run on your device. When Apple needs to access the cloud for more power, it has a Power Cloud Compute standard to protect your data and privacy, cloud power without data spreading between multiple servers and platforms," reports TechRadar. "While Siri may know everything you said in your text messages, it won't be sharing that information with anyone, not Apple or anyone else. At least, according to Apple.
"Apple is giving Apple Intelligence unprecedented access to your data, and it will be able to read all of your messages, monitor your calendar, follow your Maps and location, record your phone calls, look at your photos, and understand any other personal data...[to offer] a new level of contextual features.
"Apple Intelligence includes generative AI features, but it's a more robust platform than just a generative AI model like ChatGPT," leading some to speculate that this sounds like the death knell for AI devices such as the Humane Ai Pin and Rabbit R1.
Apple Intelligence is currently available only for developers; the public will be able to access it in the latter half of the year.
What did you think of WWDC?
Will Apple Intelligence be revolutionary, or has the company pushed AI integration too far, creating a Cyber Security nightmare?
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