Apple unveils new artificial intelligence features and OpenAI deal

Apple presented new features on Monday in a bid to join the artificial intelligence (AI) race that will see it bring “Apple Intelligence” to iPad, iPhone and Macs.

“We’re thrilled to introduce a new chapter in Apple innovation. Apple Intelligence will transform what users can do with our products – and what our products can do for our users,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

He said the AI can be accessed in “a completely private and secure way”.

The announcement came at the company’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) as Apple works to catch up to companies such as Microsoft and Google that have become early AI leaders.

Changes to Siri

Apple is leaning on OpenAI’s ChatGPT to make its virtual assistant Siri smarter and more helpful.

Siri’s optional gateway to ChatGPT will be free to all iPhone users and made available on other Apple products once the option is baked into the next generation of Apple’s operating systems.

ChatGPT subscribers are supposed to be able to easily sync their existing accounts when using the iPhone, and should get more advanced features than free users would.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sat in the front row of the packed conference, which was attended by developers from more than 60 countries.

“Together with Apple, we’re making it easier for people to benefit from what AI can offer,” Altman said in a statement.

Beyond allowing Siri to tap into ChatGPT’s storehouse of knowledge, Apple is giving its 13-year-old virtual assistant an extensive makeover designed to make it more personable and versatile, even as it currently fields about 1.5 billion queries a day.

It will be able to handle more tasks according to Monday’s presentation.

The new features will only work on recent models of Apple products as the devices need advanced processors.

iMessage set to change

Apple also announced that it will be roll out a technology called Rich Communications Service, or RCS, to its iMessage app.

It should improve the security of texting between iPhones and Android devices but will not change the blue bubbles showing text messages from other iPhones and green bubbles from Android devices.

In another upcoming twist to the iPhone’s messaging app, users will be able to write a text (or have an AI tool compose it) in advance and schedule a specific time to automatically send it.