Apple’s Annual Developer Conference: A Focus on AI
Apple typically uses its annual developer conference to announce big software updates and introduce new devices. This year, however, Apple shifted its focus to the features coming to iPhones, iPads, and Macs, particularly those powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Apple’s AI Integration
Apple is arriving late to the AI party and has partnered with a more established AI company to gain a foothold in the current arms race. In April, rumors emerged that Apple might be integrating AI on iPhones, but that doesn’t seem to have panned out. Instead, Apple is partnering with OpenAI.
Personalized AI Features
In a series of prerecorded demos, Apple showcased how users will interact with these new AI features, emphasizing personalized tasks and the usefulness of AI-assisted capabilities. Apple claims its AI can provide a highly personalized experience by collating information about how you use your device.
AI-Assisted Communication
Apple’s AI can help with writing emails, reports, and personal text messages. It can also generate images inside Messages based on the context of your conversation. For example, if you and your friends are chatting about a rooftop party, it can generate an image of what that party might look like. It can even create AI images of the people you’re talking to by syncing with photos you have identified.
Advanced Writing Tools
Apple Intelligence also includes advanced writing tools that can generate full emails or messages, or review what you’ve written to change the tone of a work email to help you avoid saying something you might later regret.
Summarization Features
The AI tools will gain summarization features that can give you the gist of a web article or catch you up on a group chat. Summarization is something other big AI players have been doing for a while.
Privacy and Security
Apple emphasized that many of these AI capabilities are processed privately on the device itself. When necessary, it can use secure cloud-based AI processing to complete your requests.
ChatGPT integration.
“Apple is partnering with OpenAI to enhance its AI capabilities.”
New Capabilities in iOS
ChatGPT Integration
New capabilities are being added to iOS thanks to Apple’s partnership with OpenAI. Some Siri requests and generative text requests can be handed off to ChatGPT, powered by GPT-4. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was even spotted at the Apple campus today.
Tap to Cash
Apple’s payments app now features Tap to Cash, allowing users to transfer money by simply holding two iPhones together. This makes paying back friends much easier.
Smarter AirPods
AirPods get gesture controls.
“Apple’s in-ear headphones will gain new gesture controls that let you nod your head to answer an incoming phone call, or shake your head to decline it.”
Enhancements to Apple TV+
Accessibility Updates
Apple will add new software features to its streaming TV platform, including better subtitles that appear when you mute or rewind a segment.
In Sights Banner
There’s also a new “In Sights” banner that pops up when you pause what you’re watching. It shows the names and faces of the onscreen actors, as well as the characters they’re playing. It can also identify any songs playing in the scene.
VisionPro and visionOS Updates
Spatial Photos
The biggest update for the VisionPro will be coming to Spatial Photos, which will include a feature that makes ordinary pictures look like Spatial photos by giving them stereoscopic depth and movement.
Spatial Photos
Enhanced Spatial Video
Apple is enhancing spatial video, partnering with companies like Vimeo, which has a player available as a new app on the VisionPro. Still no YouTube though.
Hand Gesture Recognition
Apple is adding better hand gesture recognition to visionOS and offering something called Train Support, which is meant to make the Vision Pro work better for people while they’re traveling by rail.
Global Availability
In the coming months, Apple says it is also making Vision Pro available to more countries, including China, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
1 Comment
Another Siri update? How revolutionary.