Apple’s Privacy Story: Intelligent AI for the Siri Virtual Assistant and the Genmoji and Photos Apps on iOS 18 and the Photos App

Apple has announced several AI-powered features coming to its Siri virtual assistant, such as an updated design, improvements to how it speaks and understands spoken language commands, and an integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT model.

This is Apple, and it needs a privacy story. The company says that it will process its features to keep the information private. You’ll have to get an A17 Pro or M-series chip. It is also part of the story that will grab personal details when needed and surface them across apps.

Apple says that users will be able to speak to Siri much more naturally in iOS 18. The company says that you will be able to type when you need to get things done.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but Apple is rolling out new email-writing suggestions and text summaries. In Mail, while typing out a message, you can have Siri write it for you and ask it to change its tone. The company says that writing features like this are available system-wide, anywhere you can type.

Apple is rolling out Genmoji, a new feature that will create cartoonish reactions on the fly so that when you can’t find what you want, you can have it created for you. Similarly, a new image generation feature is coming to iOS 18, called Image Playground. The same feature can be found in several apps, but it has its own app. It will also let developers access an API to include Image Playground on their devices.

Additionally, Apple is bringing AI to the Photos app. If you already look for objects in your library, Apple says it will improve the way it works in the future, so you can look for things like people doing cartwheels. It also added features similar to Google’s Magic Eraser, like the ability to erase a person from a photo.

OpenAI and Apple: Apple and OpenAI collaborating on a new design of the Siri experience in wearable devices with glowing multi-colored border

The new design of the device has a glowing multi-colored border on the screen when in use. When a user fails to say what he wants while speaking to the assistant, they will be more able to understand and remember what they’re saying, so they can make an event for a specific location after providing weather information.

Users can also now type their questions and requests to Siri by double-tapping on the bottom of the screen and can continue those actions via both typing and voice.

It had been widely rumored ahead of WWDC that Apple was working on a deal with OpenAI. On the face of it, Apple and OpenAI would seem particularly unlikely bedfellows. Apple tends to deliver new products with care and attention to detail, as well as focus on the user experience. OpenAI is well known for throwing a powerful and experimental new Artificial Intelligence into the world and watching what people do with it.