iOS18 Siri improvements: Apple's AI strategy
Explore how Apple’s iOS18 will revolutionize Siri with OpenAI integration, enabling advanced app control and AI-driven features.
Jun 01, 2024
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As I mentioned in my previous post, there is expected to be a lot of talk about AI at WWDC24. Companies in similar industries, such as Google, Microsoft, and Samsung, have already talked a lot about AI in their previous announcements, especially Microsoft, which recently announced hardware with Ai.
I think Apple first mentioned AI during their recent iPad announcement. So we're late to the party.
However, there have been a lot of stories about them working on something related to iOS 18 and AI, and there have been stories about them collaborating with different companies because of their relatively late start. Recently, there was talk of collaborating with OpenAI (which I hinted at in a previous post).
Previous post Quick summary Apple has been negotiating for a year to integrate OpenAI's GPT technology into iOS 18, and Microsoft is concerned about its collaboration with OpenAI. Apple plans to improve Siri's capabilities and add AI-powered features. Siri will be able to leverage OpenAI's APIs to handle more complex questions and respond naturally. The AI features in iOS 18 will be available in beta preview at WWDC 2024.
A Bloomberg article by Mark Gurman has more specifics about the features, especially as they relate to Siri.
Apple is planning to significantly improve Siri's capabilities with the iOS18 update, with a focus on allowing users to control the functionality of individual apps with voice commands. This will allow Siri to come into its own for the first time.
(Perhaps we can envision OpenAI's ChatGPT voice service taking on iOS directly).
What's new with Siri: Control individual apps
Apple plans to overhaul Siri's underlying software with a large language model, allowing Siri to command any function within an individual app. This feature will be a key part of Apple's new AI push. For example, you'll be able to give Siri granular commands to open a specific document, move a note to a different folder, send or delete an email, and more.
Major upgrades to Siri
- Control individual app features:
- Siri can now perform more precise commands within individual apps. For example, she can open a specific article in Apple News, email a web link, or move a note to a different folder, email it, or delete it.
- Integration of AI technology:
- Siri will be able to use a large language model to have more natural and humanized conversations. This will give users greater comfort in their interactions with Siri.
- Cloud vs. on-device processing:
- Basic AI tasks will be handled on the device itself, while more advanced functions will be handled through cloud computing. This will result in faster and more efficient services.
What's new in Siri.
- Transcribe and summarize voice memos**:
- Siri can transcribe and summarize your voice memos.
- Quick summaries of websites and notifications**:
- Summarizes the content of websites to give users quick information.
- Automated message replies:
- Siri automatically replies to messages in your style.
- Advanced photo editing:
- Make more precise and advanced photo edits with Siri's help.
- AI-generated emojis:
- Automatically generate emojis to match your mood or situation.
Privacy and security
Apple is working to address your privacy concerns while providing new features for Siri. Basic operations are handled on the device itself to protect privacy, and while the cloud-based approach requires some user data to be sent to remote servers, Apple's Secure Enclave protects information. Apple is further reassuring customers that their data is private through "Intelligence Reports.
The significance of the Siri upgrade
With the Siri upgrade, Apple is looking to reinvigorate a pioneering product that has fallen behind competing services. First released in 2011, Siri was at the forefront of voice-based interfaces and AI, but soon lost ground to Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant. With this iOS18 update, Siri will once again be at the center of innovation.
Conclusion
The improvements to Siri in iOS18 are an important part of Apple's AI strategy. As Siri gets smarter and provides more convenience to users, this upgrade will be key to Apple's advancement in AI technology and collaboration with OpenAI.
We're curious to see how far this collaboration will go, whether Apple will update AI-related features on its own in the future, or whether it will go all the way with OpenAI, and whether the dumb Siri will finally get smarter. I can't wait to see WWDC24.
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