AI news. Issue #3: all about Apple Intelligence

Hi, AI enthusiasts! Welcome to another edition of the AI newsletter. In this special issue, we’re shifting our focus from our usual three types of news to a single, significant announcement from Apple.

Recently, Apple decided to outshine its competitors in the race for the most user-friendly and intuitive AI assistant. The company has unveiled "Apple Intelligence," a suite of AI features designed to revolutionize how users interact with their iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Here are the key takeaways from the announcement for the broader AI landscape.

Key things to know about Apple Intelligence

AI that is truly personal

Apple Intelligence leverages on-device processing and your phone's data to deliver a truly personalized experience. Unlike generic chatbots, it can adapt to your individual needs and routines. For instance, this AI assistant will be able to recognize your contacts and retrieve information about them directly from your text messages upon a voice request.

Privacy concerns addressed

Many of the features of the new AI will be run entirely on your device. Apple emphasizes user privacy, and this approach minimizes data transfer, keeping personal info secure. For tasks requiring more processing power, they’ve also introduced Private Cloud Compute, a privacy-focused cloud system specifically dedicated to AI tasks. It will store data but not share it with Apple.?

Seamless AI integration

For Apple users, there will no longer be a need to see a chatbot interface. Apple Intelligence integrates AI directly into existing apps. For example, if you need help crafting an email, you can simply highlight the draft and request the AI to rewrite it in a specific tone—all within the familiar Mail app. This seamless integration paves the way for a more intuitive and user-friendly AI experience. There will also be extremely subtle ways in which AI will manifest itself, such as prioritizing notifications on the lock screen based on your usual interactions.

AI is a core feature, not a separate service

Although Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI, promising to make ChatGPT capabilities available within phone apps, it doesn’t want users to pay a monthly subscription for it. This is because they don’t see AI as a premium service but as a core feature of the iPhone experience, making it even more engaging. This could signal a shift towards a future where AI isn't a separate app but rather an invisible intelligence woven into the fabric of our digital tools.

Accessibility remains a question

Unfortunately, all these advanced AI features are currently only available on high-end devices like the iPhone 15 Pro, iPad Pro with M-series chips, and Macs with Apple Silicon. The exclusion of entry-level iPhones and older models is primarily due to the substantial costs and infrastructure challenges of large-scale AI implementation, particularly the need for high-performance GPUs, which are very expensive. Here’s more about the current limitations and the ways they’re being addressed:

• High costs and infrastructure challenges. Advanced AI features require significant computational power provided by costly high-performance GPUs. Deploying enough GPU-enabled servers to support all devices would be prohibitively expensive, so we will not likely see AI features on the older, cheaper Apple devices soon.
• Phased rollout. For now, Apple is only focusing on high-end products and aiming to improve AI capabilities and infrastructure before expanding to more devices. They are, however, developing AI-accelerated server appliances for future broader deployment.
• Edge computing. While edge computing can enhance performance and reduce latency, its deployment is complex and costly. Apple is still testing and refining its edge computing solutions to make AI more available and accessible.
• AI server development. They are also developing their own AI servers, which are expected to be more cost-effective and better integrated with the Apple ecosystem. A broader release is anticipated in 2025.
• Implications for IoT. Apple’s IoT products, like the Apple Watch and HomePod, will also benefit from cloud and edge AI solutions (once they’re ready), as they lack the computational power for on-device AI.

To sum up

This is it for today! This glimpse into Apple Intelligence highlights a user-centric approach to AI, with privacy and seamless integration at its core. While accessibility is a hurdle for now, Apple's roadmap paves the way for a future where AI is more widespread, democratized, and invisibly empowers us.?

Stay tuned for our next edition, where we'll continue to explore the latest advancements, breakthroughs, and trends in AI!

Check out our blog posts:

• How to prepare your pharma data for AI consumption
• The whats and whys of green software development
• Finding the right patients for the right treatment with AI

Avenga,

your competitive advantage ??

avenga.com