WWDC 2024 kicks off: ‘Apple Intelligence’ and IOS 18 released at the venue

Apple’s much anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 kicked off on 10th June 2024, putting months of speculation on the IOS 18, the company’s AI and other technology developments to rest.

Apple introduced ‘Apple Intelligence’ its first AI version, “the personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver intelligence that’s incredibly useful and relevant.”

Apple Intelligence is aimed at “delivering intuitive, powerful, and instantly useful experiences that will transform the iPhone experience, all with privacy at the core.” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

Here are some highlights from Apple:

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO described the new Apple Intelligencestating “Our unique approach combines generative AI with a user’s personal context to deliver truly helpful intelligence. And it can access that information in a completely private and secure way to help users do the things that matter most to them. This is AI as only Apple can deliver it, and we can’t wait for users to experience what it can do.”

Writing and Email made easy

According to its news release, “Apple Intelligence unlocks new ways for users to enhance their writing and communicate more effectively.” Users can now “rewrite, proofread, and summarize text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.”

Priority Messages in emails, now provide users with a section of the most urgent emails for attention like a boarding pass or dinner invitation reminder. Email summaries and Smart replies are also key features.

Transcribing audio and recording are now more convenient. For instance, when on a call, participants are automatically informed about the recording and upon the call’s completion Apple Intelligence will be able to create a summary of the points discussed.

Self-expression features enhanced

Apple Intelligence now has ‘exciting image creation capabilities’ to help users communicate and express themselves in new ways. Using Image Playground, users can create fun images almost immediately.

Genmoji, Apple’s customised emoji creator can create original emojis just by typing a description or using photos.

Photo controls made easy

Apple Intelligence has also made searching for photos and videos even more convenient using natural language descriptions. The new ‘Clean Up tool’ can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo.

Using language and image understanding, Apple Intelligence allows ‘Memories’ to choose the “best photos and videos based on the description, craft a storyline with chapters based on themes identified from the photos, and arrange them into a movie with its own narrative arc.” This is backed by the privacy model of storing pictures and videos on the user device and not sharing them externally.

The new Siri

“With richer language-understanding capabilities, Siri is more natural, more contextually relevant, and more personal, with the ability to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. It can follow along if users stumble over words and maintain context from one request to the next. Additionally, users can type to Siri, and switch between text and voice to communicate with Siri in whatever way feels right for the moment.”

Siri will also be able to take new actions within and across Apple and third-party apps on behalf of users. It is also designed to deliver intelligence that’s “tailored to the user and their on-device information based on processing and interpretation of device content.”

Privacy in AI

“A cornerstone of Apple Intelligence is on-device processing, and many of the models that power it run entirely on device.” According to its statement, this is done to maintain the best standards in AI privacy.

Where there are more complex processing tasks, the “Private Cloud Compute extends the privacy and security of Apple devices into the cloud to unlock even more intelligence.”

Further, Apple has provided scope for independent experts to “inspect the code that runs on Apple silicon servers to verify privacy” standards.

ChatGPT now available on Apple devices

A crucial partnership between OpenAI and Apple was officially announced at the WWDC 2024.Apple has integrated ChatGPT into experiences within iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, “allowing users to access its expertise — as well as its image- and document-understanding capabilities — without needing to jump between tools.”

To secure privacy more holistically while using ChatGPT, Apple has ensured that “user IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests”.

Apple Intelligence and its features will be free for users. However, the wait will continue with the release of Apple Intelligence slated for this fall and sequenced rollouts over the next year.

“Apple Intelligence is deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It harnesses the power of Apple silicon to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks,” said the company in a release. These are also complimented by Apple’s emphasis on AI privacy throughout its applications.