Apple Intelligence launches with iOS 18.1. Image credit: Apple
Apple head of software Craig Federighi was asked about Siri and Apple Intelligence, and while he couldn’t discuss the future, he was sure Siri was never going to become some kind of sentient pal.
Apple Intelligence will launch alongside iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 before the end of October. Instead of falling into the hype cycle of its competitors, Apple seemingly took a more conservative approach by offering private and secure tools users can use every day.
Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi sat down with Wall Street Journal Joanna Stern to discuss Apple’s entry into AI and how it differs from the competition. One example he cited was that Siri is already helping users open their garage door or send a text, while ChatGPT isn’t meant for those use cases.
One moment, Federighi pointed out that Siri would continue to improve over time, but Apple isn’t targeting a “sentient pal.” This differs greatly from other companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google which seem convinced they may create sentience at any time — referred to as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Instead, Apple wants users to get useful text summaries or use Clean Up to remove objects without fundamentally changing an image. Other companies are happy to generate entire essays or turn a memory into a fabrication, both things Apple seems disinterested in doing.
Privacy isn’t a concern with Apple Intelligence, but when Stern asks why other companies aren’t approaching AI this way, Federighi’s answer is simple. Not only is Apple’s on-device system and Cloud Compute difficult to build and execute, the concept runs counter to competitors that want to suck up as much data as possible for training.
When asked about the delay releasing features for Apple Intelligence, Federighi called AI a “big lift” and that “we want to get it right.” As opposed to putting “something out there and have it be sort of a mess.”
His answer reflects Apple CEO Tim Cook’s, who said Apple wasn’t the first to AI, but it will be the best.
Apple sees Apple Intelligence as a decades-long arc that needs to be done responsibly. That arc begins with iOS 18.1 and the other operating systems on or around October 28.