Apple has temporarily disabled its AI-powered news and entertainment notification summaries in the latest iOS beta software. The feature, part of Apple’s on-device "Apple Intelligence", aimed to provide concise summaries of notifications, including breaking news, via push notifications. However, the BBC and other major news organisations raised alarms over the feature's inaccuracies, which often led to confusion among users.
These AI summaries, designed to streamline news consumption, instead misrepresented stories, fueling concerns about their potential to mislead the public. The BBC’s formal complaint highlighted the severity of the issue, underscoring the challenges Apple faces with its generative AI technology.
Apple’s response and adjustments
In response to the criticism, Apple has temporarily deactivated the AI-powered summaries in the latest beta releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3. The company assured users that it is working on refining the system’s accuracy and reliability, with plans to bring back the feature once the necessary improvements are made.
Apple has also introduced a new feature that marks AI-generated summaries with italicised text, making them easy to differentiate from regular notifications. Additionally, users now have more control over their notifications, with the option to disable AI-generated summaries directly from the lock screen.
Future plans for Apple Intelligence
Despite the setback, Apple remains committed to Apple Intelligence and is working on a more reliable version of the AI-powered summaries. The company has acknowledged that the technology is still in its beta phase and that users should expect occasional unexpected results.
For now, Apple users who are not on the beta software will still have access to the AI-generated summaries, but those on the beta track will need to wait for the feature to be reintroduced after the necessary improvements. With these changes, Apple aims to strike a balance between innovating with AI and ensuring the accuracy of information delivered to users.