Why 'Apple Intelligence' isn't a chatbot: 'We're not taking a teenager and telling it to fly a plane.'

WWDC 2024 revealed a slew of AI-powered features across iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia — including Genmoji, which lets you create your own emoji, and Summarize (gives you the "CliffNotes" of your text).

While some AI enthusiasts are fired up about Apple Intelligence (that's what Apple is calling its new suite of AI features), other skeptics may be more distrustful of AI. Apple appeared to be well aware of these concerns, so with iJustine holding a fireside chat for WWDC attendees (yes, Mashable was there), Apple's SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and AI head John Giannandrea addressed them.

Apple's intentional about where it places AI

"We've all seen AI hallucinations," iJustine said. "How are you doing things differently?"

iJustine interviews Craig Federighi and John Giannandrea. Credit: Apple

Giannandrea said Apple is being very careful about where, exactly, AI is being applied. In other words, there are some aspects of AI where it shines. For example, AI arguably demonstrates expertise in summarizing large swaths of text. This is why Apple has enabled the Notes app to leverage this capability to generate text summaries from recorded and transcribed audio.

Conversely, in my experience, AI isn't good at math (as evidenced by my ChatGPT vs. Gemini face-off). As such, it's highly unlikely that Apple will launch an AI-powered homework helper any time soon.

Federighi hinted that chatbots, by nature, are too open-ended for Apple's tastes — and can expose too many weaknesses to its consumers. Instead, Apple wants to play to the strengths of the AI models that underpin Apple Intelligence. "We're not taking this teenager and telling it to go fly an airplane," Federighi said.

The silver-haired SVP, who tickled the Mashable team after jumping out of a plane and engaging in parkour in a few exhilarating scenes during the WWDC keynote (likely with some excellent CGI), said that Apple's AI models are "very good" and "very safe," but acknowledges that they are not a panacea for all tasks — and require careful application for a more valuable user experience.

There's ChatGPT, but it's strategically integrated

Yes, there is some integration with ChatGPT, OpenAI's chatbot.

ChatGPT integration on iOS 18 Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

But like Federighi insinuated, there won't be a chatbot window sitting on a right panel somewhere (ahem, Copilot) waiting for you to explore its every nook and cranny with open-ended prompts. For example, with your permission, you'll be able to ask ChatGPT, "What can I make with this?" before prompting it to recognize a food picture and giving you recipe suggestions. Or, with a wordy, verbose document, you can ask ChatGPT to generate a summary about a particular topic, weeding out other irrelevant subjects.

In both scenarios, you'll find built-in ChatGPT functionality, curated by Apple to be integrated in specific apps for optimal use.

Giannandrea said that Apple Intelligence has been "carefully designed to not surface the worse behavior of these models." He also added that Apple abides by a set of AI principles, ensuring that the Cupertino-based tech giant approaches AI responsibly.

Thanks to iOS 18 developer beta that's now available, you can play around with the new Apple Intelligence features on the iPhone 15 Pro series, as well as the iPad Pro, iPad Air, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro with the M1 chip or newer.

The official iOS 18 version is expected to launch later this year alongside the iPhone 16.