iOS 18 and co.: Apple's AI cat is out of the bag - or not?
Apple seems to be doing as much as possible when it comes to AI, but only as little as necessary. Will the equation work out? An analysis of the WWDC keynote.
Apple boss Tim Cook (left) and software boss Craig Federighi welcomed guests to Apple Park in California.
(Image: mki / heise online)
It's easy to understand why the management and employees at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, are so proud of their Apple Park. Unlike parts of the surrounding Silicon Valley, the huge ring-shaped building in the middle of a park landscape interspersed with small hills and many types of trees and plants undoubtedly appeals to the eyes and senses. At the start of the WWDC developer conference on Monday evening German time, the iPhone manufacturer opened its huge gate again at a crisp 27 degrees outside – a huge piece of the multi-storey building façade is then moved aside, and the employee café then juts out into the park, where a large tent roof construction was stretched over rows of chairs.
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This imposing and large venue, where hundreds of selected app developers and media representatives from all over the world watched the opening keynote on a big screen on Monday, would actually be an excellent stage for a live presentation. It was before Corona. However, Apple continues to play it safe on its big stage and is foregoing a live show in which there could be mishaps. A few personal words from Apple CEO Tim Cook and software boss Craig Federighi introduce the audience – then it's "playback on" and the movie starts, in which nothing is left to chance.
Apple plays it safe
Apple is also playing it safe with its announced AI offensive, which is gradually taking shape in the form of iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and the other software updates that have now been unveiled. The principle of "as much as possible, but as little as necessary" seems to have been the inspiration here.
As expected, Apple is focusing on data protection as a distinguishing feature from the templates provided by Google and OpenAI. A second point that is important to Apple is simplicity of use. Users do not have to learn any clever prompts to conjure up beautiful AI images, for example. However, Apple is also playing it safe with the selection of functions that are available to users, at least in the first release. And the fact that the image AI is only supposed to produce very cartoon-like images is probably not an oversight, but intentional, likely to prevent fake images – Apple remains very controlled.
Europeans will have to be patient
Under the umbrella term Apple Intelligence, there will be functions for revising texts, smart sorting of incoming messages according to priority and emojis that are created to match the user's message. However, Apple spoke more about the potential of its approach than about specific functions. For now, only users of the US English language version of the software can try it out. Unlike usual, when the new software is released for everyone in the fall, patience will be required here, especially in Europe.
As usual, the iPhone manufacturer is not completely reinventing the wheel, but has obviously looked at which of the many ideas for AI from the past two years are really useful. They are more than just a show of effects in the reality of users. Recognizing this and, at best, presenting it a little more cleverly has often been the recipe for success in Cupertino. Last year's Vision Pro, when Apple took the sword of innovation into its hands, was more of an outlier. And making this bet on the future a success is still a work in progress in California. Currently with the expansion into new markets and visionOS 2.
Lack of innovation or clever?
When it comes to AI, everything is a little simpler. Anyone expecting something wholly new compared to the competition may be disappointed. And yes, of course, there has long been a lot of criticism online about a lack of innovation. But Apple can be relatively indifferent to this because it is the only company in its ecosystem that has direct access to Apple users. But it is precisely at this direct interface that AI will quickly become part of everyday life. In the fall, Apple's AI offensive will be rolled out across millions of devices. Apple will inevitably become a major AI player and bring countless people into contact with the topic for the first time, people who have so far avoided it or simply not bothered to engage with it.
The reactions among the audience in Apple Park were mixed: Many, especially the media representatives, had questions following the keynote. The first answers were to be provided by an interview hosted by Apple itself on the stage of the Steve Jobs Theater. The reactions of the developers were not as euphoric as with the calculator for the iPad. They were particularly jubilant when they heard that the Xcode development environment finally offered AI support. A long step overdue.
Only the first step
But what happens now?
As we all know, after WWDC is before WWDC: the rumor cooks are already busy throwing new ingredients into their pots. Apple wants to revise the entire operating concept, they say. Voice is to play a significantly greater role now that Siri finally understands you - and apps are to take a back seat. Currently, such predictions sound just as exuberant as the prophets who wanted to consign Google's search to the dustbin a year ago because supposedly everything will soon only be clarified in the chatbot. But Apple itself is also encouraging this a little, talking about a new era and that there is still a lot to come.
Search is just as important a source of income for Google as apps are for Apple – so neither of them are likely to have any great interest in radically overturning the existing system unnecessarily, unless a new lucrative business emerges. However, AI initially costs a lot of money due to the computing power and data material required for learning. At best, user satisfaction then provides value for money. If it were up to Apple, the upheavals brought about by AI would presumably be downshifted to a lower gear. After all, Apple had already discovered the topic of AI for itself some time ago under the term machine learning - only at a much more leisurely pace and less shrill and loud than OpenAI and its competitors.
Taken out of the comfort zone
Cupertino will certainly not be able to return to this comfort zone. And they don't want to, as AI boss John Giannandrea said this afternoon: AI is not a tactic, it will become part of the operating system. For the unpredictable part, which can sometimes hallucinate, Apple is integrating ChatGPT from OpenAI into the software. With an upstream warning, Apple can absolve itself of being responsible for overly abstruse results.
This is clever at first glance because Apple's own language models are probably playing it too safe. However, Apple will most likely not be able to avoid having to take more risks in the future to keep up technologically and be able to offer equivalent functions in the near future. Then, but only then, will Apple be able to score points with its values such as privacy and simplicity. In the end, the only question is whether annual updates like the current ones will be enough – as fast as the AI companies have pushed the topic in the past two years.
(mki)
