Apple pauses AI summaries of news notifications, acknowledging a big flaw that drew backlash from publishers
Apple
- Apple has temporarily disabled AI summaries of news notifications in a new software release.
- The feature has faced criticism from media outlets over concerns that AI generates factual errors.
- Apple has been betting big on AI to trigger an iPhone upgrade cycle.
Apple is pausing a feature in its artificial intelligence software designed to summarize news notifications following backlash from media companies that said the technology was making major errors.
The technology giant unveiled the change to its Apple Intelligence platform on Thursday following its latest software release to developers. The iOS 18 beta 3 update shows that generative AI-enabled notification summaries are "temporarily unavailable" for news apps.
In a statement, Apple confirmed to Business Insider that notification summaries for news and entertainment will be temporarily unavailable with its latest beta software releases across iPhones, Macs, and iPads. "We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update," the company said.
The decision comes just months after the company introduced its generative AI platform, Apple Intelligence, to users. Apple touted the summarized notifications feature as one that surfaces "what's most important" to users.
However, the feature has prompted criticism from some outlets, who complained that the generative AI powering Apple Intelligence notifications repeatedly made mistakes when summarizing news headlines.
The BBC raised serious complaints with Apple last month after an AI summary of a story on Luigi Mangione — the suspect behind the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — falsely told some iPhone users that Mangione had shot himself.
It's the latest sign of the challenges Silicon Valley companies face with the technology that their industry has rallied around since the launch of ChatGPT.
Major tech companies like Google and OpenAI have also seen their AI generate major inaccuracies, raising concerns about the technology's potential to spread false information.
It's also a sign that Apple faces teething problems with a technology that CEO Tim Cook has called a "new chapter in Apple innovation."
Analysts have been examining whether Apple Intelligence can match the performance of generative AI offerings from rival firms and trigger an iPhone upgrade cycle.
Not all have been convinced it will. Apple received a "sell" downgrade this month from Craig Moffett, senior analyst at MoffettNathanson, who told Bloomberg that there are concerns consumers are "unmoved by AI functionality."