Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence.

If you're wondering what Apple's been talking about here at its Worldwide Developers Conference, let me sum it up for you: introducing Apple Intelligence.

You see what they did there?

Yes, Apple Intelligence is the company's AI system that will be integrated throughout its iPhone, Mac, and iPad operating systems.

And yes, they said Apple Intelligence around 60 times.

Some of these intelligence announcements are just table stakes.

Samsung and Google already have them.

Others break new ground.

Here's my AI analysis: Number one, Siri.

Yes, ever since Siri's birth, Apple's been promising that it can do things for you just by you asking.

Not exactly.

Yet maybe now is Siri's moment.

The assistant is getting smarter at what it can do with your personal information.

The aim is to keep your data private, either by using on-device models or using Apple's new private cloud compute system.

Apple says the new Siri can understand you better, even when you flub what you're saying.

What does the weather look like for tomorrow at Muir Beach?

Oh wait, I meant Muir Woods.

The forecast is calling for clear skies in the morning near Muir Woods National Monument.

The big thing is that you can now type to Siri, making it much more like a chatbot.

But unlike those other chatbots, Apple's making the point that Siri knows all about you and your personal info.

It eventually will be able to understand what appears on your screen.

You can ask Siri to find something even if you don't remember it's in a message, email, or note.

And it can work across apps.

Or for times when you're filling out a form and need to input your driver's license, Siri will be able to find a photo of your license, extract your ID number, and type it into the form for you. Number 2: Siri and ChatGPT.

Siri has a new buddy.

When you ask Siri to do something that it doesn't know how to do, it will ask your permission to use ChatGPT.

And you don't have to be a ChatGPT subscriber either.

And if you have a ChatGPT account, you can connect it and access the paid features.

Apple says it plans to integrate with other large language models later. Number 3: Writing tools.

These were expected.

Generative AI models will be able to summarize, rewrite, and proofread text in notes, mail, pages, and more.

Well now, you can change the tone of that response to your colleague to make it sound more friendly, professional, or concise.

Apple will also suggest responses and different tones for messages and emails.

Google and Samsung have been doing this, but it's a very welcome upgrade here too. Number 4: Images.

We're introducing Genmoji.

Yes, that's a thing.

It's generative image creation mixed with emoji and Memoji.

You can generate these new emojis by adding a description.

You can then use them as a tap back reaction in messages, inline or stickers.

Just provide a description and you'll see your Genmoji appear right before your eyes along with more options to choose from.

We were promised flying cars and well, we got AI that can make emojis of flying cars.

I mean, yeah, of course, I'm really excited about this one.

Then there's a new app called Image Playground that lets you create images in seconds.

It's also built into apps like Messages and Pages and you choose from animation, sketch, or illustration styles.

When you have a really specific idea in mind, you could just type a description to add it to your playground and you can easily adjust which style you want to use.

And speaking of images, Apple Intelligence will make it easier for you to search through photos with more specificity.

And similar to Google's Magic Erase feature, there's a cleanup tool that can help you remove objects or people in the background of your photos.

Can I get a finally on this one?

Samsung and Google both have on-device AI transcription.

Apple is just getting with the program.

It's coming to the Notes app and you can use AI to summarize the transcript for you too.

There's a similar feature coming to the phone app so you can record phone calls and do the same.

Don't worry, participants are automatically notified so no one is surprised.

Taking another page from Google and Samsung, Apple will use AI to prioritize your notifications.

The most important will appear at the top.

Your priority notifications appear at the top of the stack, letting you know what to pay attention to at a glance.

Apple Intelligence will start appearing in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, first in the beta versions this summer and then more broadly to everyone this fall.

And it's only available in English at first.

But there are two big bummers.

Not all the features will be available right away.

Apple says the chat GPT integration will arrive before the end of the year, and some features might not even come until next year.

And all this requires new hardware.

Luckily, this is an iPhone 15 Pro Max, but sorry, everyone else.

Apple says these new AI features require the latest iPhone 15 Pro lineup and iPads and Macs running the M chip or later.

So there you have it.

Apple's first step into the AI wars.

The Siri improvements and the mix of on-device and cloud processing are unique.

The rest is a lot of what we've already seen from Google and Samsung.

But that's Apple's usual move, wait it out and make it better.

And now we wait to test to see if it is actually better.

Hey Siri, are you smarter yet?

I'm not a person, so I only know what I've been programmed to understand.

Well, that's gonna change.