Apple has officially launched its intelligent features, but similar to most artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities on smartphones, their performance remains somewhat underwhelming.
Apple's initial suite of intelligent features is relatively conventional: utilizing luminous gradients and flashing icons to indicate the presence of AI; offering writing tools that enhance the professionalism of emails; and integrating an AI eraser tool within the Photos app to remove distracting elements. These functionalities are now live and operate satisfactorily. However, they fall short of the transformative computational advancements that consumers had hoped would substantially save time.
Currently, there are two categories of Apple's intelligent features: those that have been released and those that may be introduced in the future. Even during this launch event, Apple has actively previewed unreleased features. The currently available functionalities are merely a collection of loosely connected tools centered around a common theme: helping users eliminate distractions and extract meaningful information from noise. This is at least the theoretical objective.
Apple employs AI to aggregate notification groups, enabling users to quickly catch up on missed information. Users can summarize lengthy emails and utilize new focus modes to filter out unnecessary distractions. However, after a week of use, these features have not significantly conserved time or effort.
In the Mail app, AI-generated summaries appear in the position typically occupied by the first line of an email when viewing the entire inbox; users can also choose to summarize individual emails. This may reflect the often trivial nature of emails, but these features have not provided substantial assistance. So, what are the currently available features that effectively summarize emails? The answer lies in the subject lines. For most received emails, subject lines are usually concise and to the point. Perhaps Tim Cook can save considerable time by not having to read lengthy emails, but most users likely do not need a brief summary accompanying every fundraising email from the Democratic National Committee.
The notification summaries seem more promising, at least they are quite interesting when AI attempts to condense a series of gossip texts or a slew of doorbell notifications. However, it also highlights some important information within a string of messages from friends, which users might not notice immediately while browsing their phones and may read these messages much later. This does prove to be helpful.
In the Photos app, users can find a new "Clean Up" tool in the editing options. This tool is designed to quickly remove objects from a scene; users can tap on objects automatically highlighted by the tool or manually outline the objects they wish to remove. It operates on the device, so users only need to wait a moment to see the selected objects (in most cases) disappear.
The tool performs adequately, especially for smaller objects in the background. However, its effectiveness is comparable to Google's older "Magic Eraser" tool in Google Photos, sometimes performing better but not as well as Google's "Magic Editor," which uses generative AI to convincingly remove objects. Since "Magic Editor" operates in the cloud, the two are difficult to directly compare. However, users could use Google's "Magic Eraser" tool on a four-year-old iPhone 12 Mini with similar results to the "Clean Up" tool on an iPhone 16, which does not provide sufficient reason to upgrade to an AI-enhanced phone.
Additionally, Siri has received an upgrade. Of course, it looks different and has added typing query capabilities, but with minimal use, it becomes apparent that it is essentially a new version of the old Siri. Its natural language processing capabilities are stronger and it includes more product knowledge to help users find settings on their iPhones, but currently, its functionality is limited to this. Apple has promised significant updates to Siri and plans to introduce features like ChatGPT integration by the end of this year. However, more robust features, such as context awareness and the ability to perform actions within apps, are planned for release in 2025.
Other features, such as AI-generated photo memories and smart replies, function as expected but lack a personal touch. Although AI-suggested replies convey the correct emotions, users often do not send them. If users intend to take the time to reply to texts, they might prefer writing something like "This is difficult" themselves rather than relying on AI. After all, one of the purposes of texting is personal communication. Users are also prompted by the Photos app to create memories of their children, which it does, but the titles are unsettlingly labeled as "Joyful Moments with Children."
It is important to clarify that criticisms of Apple's intelligent features do not endorse other smartphones' intelligent functionalities; they currently all lack practicality to varying degrees. If one wishes to create an illusion of a helicopter crashing onto an open meadow, relevant AI tools do exist. However, if the goal is to receive assistance in completing tasks, the relevant functionalities are not yet ready.
Fairly speaking, this is the first version of Apple's intelligent features, and Apple has made it clear that more powerful intelligent functionalities will be rolled out over the next year. However, Apple has also prominently labeled each new iPhone, iPad, and Mac with "Designed for Apple Intelligence Features," implying that users might regret purchasing Apple devices that do not support AI. If Apple's intelligent features are currently disappointing, it is because Apple has hyped them up too much.
More features will be introduced in the future, some of which seem promising. This wave of AI functionalities represents Apple's effort to catch up with Google and Samsung. However, no smartphone manufacturer has yet created a coherent and time-saving suite of AI tools. Although Apple is late to the game, the real competition has only just begun.
