Apple has revealed its plans to revamp its operating systems with the integration of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in a broad offensive to encourage hardware sales.
‘Apple Intelligence’ will soon be available on the latest iPhone models, providing users with the power to enhance writing, create images and summarise telephone calls in an intuitive new operating system.
It is a major move by Apple that will bring AI to the general population in a way that will mean deep integration in everyday mobile phone tasks.
To date, people wanting to deploy the benefits of Generative AI tools such a OpenAI’s ChatGPT would have had to visit the application and use its interface. This technology will now be built into your iPhone and will be utilised with little or no need to move away from the task being undertaken.
The software will initially only be available on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max phones – a move clearly designed to encourage users to upgrade their current models.
The plans have been met be a sharp response by Elon Musk who said he will ban his staff from using iPhones claiming a tie-up between Apple and OpenAI will be a ‘security violation’.
“Apple has finally broken its AI silence,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown
“It’s fair to say Apple was caught off guard by the explosion of activity in the AI space, and it’s turned to a partnership with OpenAI to get its foot in the door. This is a key moment for Apple, which has struggled with innovation of late. Gone are the days when each new iPhone was so jam-packed with new features that consumers felt obligated to upgrade every year, most people probably don’t even know what version they’re using.
“But this is a marathon, not a sprint. It may be late to the party, but the long-awaited AI strategy could trigger a new surge in demand for the latest handsets. Integrating a third-party tool like ChatGPT finally gets things moving while leaving space to develop internal models over the next few years at much lower costs than the first movers. With generative AI capabilities, Apple will have a fierce combination of deep consumer and developer ecosystems alongside the hardware and software to get AI tools into the hands of everyday consumers.”