“AI for the rest of us.” That is how Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple, described Apple Intelligence—which reveals the Cupertino-based tech giant ’s plans in the generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) space. What he was subtly referring to on that hot, sunny California morning in June at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino was how Apple’s AI vision puts the consumer first, unlike the enterprise focus of most other tech companies.
Federighi, who was speaking at Apple’s flagship software event, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), said: “This is a moment we’ve been working toward for a long time.” The world, too, has been waiting a long time to find out what the Tim Cook-led tech giant Apple would do with Gen AI.
Apple Intelligence, the beta version of which will be rolled out for iPhone 15 Pro or better devices this Fall, comes with several useful features that include writing tools, a new Photos app, a feature that generates images and emojis, and the much-awaited integration with ChatGPT, among other things. Users also get a supercharged Siri, Apple’s personal assistant that is far more conversational than before and understands personal context.
But, above all, what comes through is Apple’s focus on privacy. Apple prioritises on-device processing and secure cloud computing, unlike the data-driven enterprise approach by other Big Tech firms, say experts. “What sets Apple Intelligence apart is its focus on on-device processing and keeping user data secure and private,” says Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research, a market research and consulting firm. “Apple has introduced a suite of advancements including on-device models, and a privacy-centric cloud infrastructure that supports more complex tasks while adhering strictly to Apple’s privacy standards.”
Agrees Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, a technology market research firm. “The on-device narrative fits well for Apple in its attempt to go big on privacy as a differentiator,” he says.
Through Apple Intelligence, the company is focussing on harnessing its chip expertise and hardware-software synergy, Pathak says. “Apple appears to go big on on-device AI and rely on smaller [language] models, something that is different from what Google, Samsung or ChatGPT are doing [in terms of Gen AI].” Pathak adds that unlike Google and Microsoft/OpenAI, Apple doesn’t have a frontier LLM (large language model) at the heart of its Gen AI. Instead, it has developed a suite of small and medium generative models, and a larger server-based model accessible via private cloud compute on Apple silicon servers.
While most of Apple Intelligence works on-device, for slightly complex prompts, Siri can tap into ChatGPT. “Apple’s move with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri indicates a strategic approach to leverage external AI capabilities while developing its own models,” says Ram of CyberMedia Research. This sort of an integration is a first for Apple, which is known for its relatively closed ecosystem. And this move leaves the door open for a similar arrangement with Gemini, Google’s Gen AI model, in the future, say experts.
But before a user can use external AI capabilities on Siri, a notification appears on top of the screen, prompting them to give their consent before any information is shared. To ensure privacy, Apple uses ‘private cloud compute’, which means the user’s data is never stored anywhere and is used only to fulfil the user’s requests. Even the user’s IP address is obfuscated during this cloud interaction. But if the user links their OpenAI account, then OpenAI’s data policies apply.
Industry watchers like Pathak appreciate the fact that Apple prompts users to give their consent before any information is shared. “Transparency is key... Users should be aware of where the consent is going and what it means for them,” says Pathak. And this is timely, he says, because very soon there will be policy and regulations across different regions around AI “as the adoption curve is faster than one would have expected a year ago”. Ram adds that localising the Apple Intelligence experience will be a major challenge for the tech giant as it will have to navigate the Digital Markets Act in Europe and China’s strict AI rules as it rolls out the service across markets. Apple isn’t the first one to offer these features. But industry watchers say that the tech giant’s implementation of AI builds a sense of trust and credibility among users, which translates to wider adoption of Gen AI. Apple seems to be taking a more user-centric approach compared to the rest of the pack and the focus on privacy, security and offering a seamless experience across Apple devices might be the ideal way for the average customer to understand what AI is capable of.
@aayush_a6
The author was in Cupertino at the invitation of Apple