Apple Unveils “AI for the Rest of Us”

Behold,?Apple Intelligence, or “AI for the rest of us”! (Don’t worry, we’re still parsing that statement, too.)

At?Monday’s?Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple—a company that?once avoided using the term “artificial intelligence”?when discussing its machine-learning features—divulged?all the AI integrations?it plans on implementing across its newest devices and iOS 18 software update this fall. The suite of AI builds includes?advancements to Siri?with a deeper reliance on LLMs to grant people more control over their apps, as well as a?confirmed incorporation of ChatGPT, which Siri would redirect you to should the former be better suited to answer your queries (with, interestingly,?consent and warnings to fact-check).?

Artificial intelligence will also be?embedded into Mail?to create summaries of emails and generate responses, in addition to AI-powered transcriptions and summaries to?apps like Notes. Some of the most significant integrations?will be in the Photos app, where users will soon have the ability to search for images and videos using natural language, as well as gain access to?Clean Up, a Google Magic Eraser dupe?that eliminates or edits unwanted objects or people in a given photo. Apple also unveiled?"Image Playground,"?an on-device AI Image Generator.

But perhaps the update creating the most buzz online is? Genmoji, an AI-powered tool that will grant users the ability to generate their own emojis based on a text prompt, with the ability to?use?the faces of family or friends from existing images. The personalization of it all leans into?a key Apple's commitment to data privacy. While consumers have been apprehensive about GenAI over?increased security concerns, Apple?pledged?that these new AI systems would not leak or use personal data in unauthorized ways.

Why It matters: ?These integrations introduce another contender to?the AI race?as tech conglomerates fight to churn out the most impressive GenAI advancements. However, the implications of such actions extend beyond the digital landscape and into the social realm. Features like Genmoji will soon be used far and wide on social platforms and likely influence moments of cultural discourse.

This is particularly interesting because it comes at the same time Meta rolled out a content disclaimer across platforms and placements that alerts users when content has been manipulated by AI.??(Meta has made this label mandatory for all organic posts "made” or “edited” with AI, but it is not being applied to paid content posts at this time unless the post content falls within specific areas like politics, etc.) Through accessible forms of media, the rise of public awareness of AI is increasingly catching up to the technology itself, but brands and creators may find that labels flagging the use of AI within content production negatively impact user perception/engagement of brand and product content, or even misrepresent the extent of AI's involvement in content creation.

Other news and trends

• Unskippable ads.?In the past week,?screenshots circulated?on social media?demonstrating?how some users were unable to scroll past an ad on their feeds. Following speculation, Instagram?confirmed?that it had been testing out unskippable ads, whereby a countdown timer prevents users from moving on until they view a set duration of the ad. The feature would make the user experience?similar to that on YouTube, and?a Meta spokesperson declared?that the effort is one of many formats they test "that can drive value for advertisers," though consumers are?not particularly pleased.

• Messenger Communities.?After?introducing Communities?on WhatsApp back in 2022, Meta has now?rolled out the feature on its Messenger app, designed to assist organizations and other private groups in communicating through a more structured platform. Communities on Messenger is an upgrade from?"Community Chats," which was also originally launched in 2022. Whereas Community Chats linked groups with Facebook pages, the new Communities feature does not require collectives to have a Facebook group. The move demonstrates?Meta's interest in expanding Messenger?beyond Facebook and offering unique services to compete with the likes of iMessage.

• House of the Dragon.?While the?Bridgerton fanbase?seems to have overtaken social media in the past few weeks, especially as?Part 2 of Season 3?is set to release this week, another television franchise has managed to generate just as much attention.?House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones spinoff series depicting the history of House Targaryen, is premiering?its second season?this weekend, and there has been?no shortage of social activations?to promote its release. The franchise has?leveraged AI in its marketing efforts, with its most recent?campaign?tricking people?into believing that banners for?#TeamBlack?and?#TeamGreen?(88.9k?and?67k?posts on TikTok, respectively) were raised on the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.?

• Trending on TikTok: The darkest of dark humor.?Humor has long been?a favored coping mechanism?for Gen Z, and that is as evident as ever in?the latest trend?emerging on TikTok. Users have been creating slideshow posts with?this sound?on the platform to "rate" things that their parents have done (978.5k posts?on TikTok). While this seems like?a harmless or amusing?trend on the surface–some?praise?or?poke fun?at their parents, and others even make fun of?themselves?and?their close friends–several posts share some?quite harrowing stories?about their?childhood experiences?through a comedic lens.

Contributors: Head of Social Content and Engagement Strategy Cristina Lawrence, Senior Vice President Jerry Lawrence, Group Vice President Andrew McKernan, and Senior Vice President Tammy Pepito. At Razorfish, we help brands define their higher purpose—the emotional reason why they belong in people’s lives. Ready to find your purpose? Learn more here.

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