Apple is getting ready to take the plunge much deeper into AI but is going about it in a markedly different way from Google and OpenAI. Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, went out of his way to reveal the deliberate and privacy-first way the company has been approaching AI in The Wall Street Journal interview. While most technology supergiants go head-to-head to make generative AI better, Apple is playing for the long term with an emphasis on user privacy and a more personal experience.
A Smarter Siri: Apple’s Vision for the Future
Federighi admitted that Siri currently handles a massive 1.5 billion requests per day but said that this is only just the beginning. He emphasized the fact that with Apple’s increasing advancements in AI, Siri’s capabilities will develop dramatically, teaching the assistant to understand what the user wants more accurately and respond accordingly.
Instead of making just another chatbot, the integration of AI into its devices should feel very organic and profoundly personal for Apple. “We viewed this not as, how do we build another chatbot and bolt it on the side of our existing experience, but how do we create something that’s deeply integrated and personal,” Federighi explained. The overhauls, though, will not come all at once. Apple is planning to deliver AI features in a series spread over the next several years.
Apple Intelligence: A New Frontier of AI with Privacy at Its Core
This AI initiative in Apple is called “Apple Intelligence,” and enhances the user experience in the Apple ecosystem by making smarter notifications and more intuitive personalization. It also promised to keep the majority of AI programming on users’ devices rather than using cloud-based processing like the rest of the competition.
This is in line with Apple’s strong emphasis on privacy. Here, the AI models run locally on devices rather than sending masses of user data to the cloud. Thus, there are fewer concerns about privacy risks. Federighi emphasized that cloud processing would only be resorted to when necessary and even then encrypted at a very high level.
A Balance Between Innovation and Caution
Measured in its approach to the race, Apple appears genuinely committed to quality and not a threat to security. According to Federighi, some of the first features from Apple Intelligence will be introduced with the upcoming iOS 18.1, but many of the tools announced earlier this year are yet to be developed. There’s no rush; Apple wants to fine-tune every bit of the technology before coming out to the masses.
“You could put something out there and let it sort of be a mess, or… let’s try to get each piece right and release it when it’s ready,” Federighi said, calling for patience as Apple puts its long-term AI vision into practice.
What Lies Ahead: Apple’s Long-Term Vision for AI
Users will need to wait for Apple’s AI advancements to fully emerge. However, Apple’s focus on privacy and user-centric design bodes well for Siri and the Apple ecosystem. As AI advances, Apple’s careful consideration of foresight while keeping careful about security leads to expectations of performance in both functionality and security requirements.
