Apple Intelligence: Heartless Summary and Other Problems

Starting Monday, Apple Intelligence became available to the wider public for the first time. With iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1, Apple rolled out its AI system in the first expansion phase for iPhones (15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, all 16 models), iPads (from M1, A18 Pro), and Macs (from M1). Has been released. , The offer is strictly opt-in – so you don’t need to activate it. Additionally, the system is explicitly referred to as “beta” in Apple Intelligence. This becomes clear in practice also.

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just turn it on

First, you need to be running Apple Intelligence on devices within the EU. Apple doesn’t officially plan to do this — it won’t happen until April 2025. But there are tricks that can help you already use Apple Intelligence. The easiest way is to use a Mac. Since the platform is not regulated by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple immediately released its AI system here. The only requirement is that the system is configured to use US English. The region can remain on Germany, as well as on the Apple account (both iCloud and App Store and Media).

With iPhone and iPad it’s a little more difficult. The system here must be in US English and at least the Apple account for the App Store and Media must be located in the USA – then you may have to get it (for free). investIf the requirements are met, all you need to do is activate Apple Intelligence – you just have to press a switch. Since Apple only lets users in gradually, it could take anywhere from a few minutes to, in the worst case, hours, for the AI ​​system to activate. If you are “in”, this is demonstrated by starting a preparation process, which can take anywhere from a few minutes (usually) to hours (rarely). Apple models have been reloaded.

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problems in behavior

After activating Apple Intelligence, you immediately realize that this is a beta. Writing tools implemented system-wide can have good results, but sometimes they get the most important points wrong. Apple tries to remove the possibility of hallucinations with proper prompts, but – as every ChatGPT user should know – this is unfortunately sometimes wishful thinking. Image Cleanup Clean Up removes unwanted areas in the most reliable way if the background is not too complex. Otherwise strange artifacts will occur. Siri is prettier to look at, but hardly less understandable, than before. Very often, inquiries end up on the web. Things should improve with iOS 18.2 and ChatGPT support, but the real new Siri won’t arrive until spring 2025.

Summary is another hurdle. Tests have shown that activating Apple Intelligence can cause notifications – such as those from Apple Home when a window is opened – to arrive later – interestingly, even if Summary is actually disabled. The summaries themselves don’t always make sense, especially if the content to be summarized is more complex: a ten-page email can’t be broken down into three sentences without a lot of information being left out. Additionally, there were reports before the release of iOS 18.1 that summaries could sometimes be heartless. AI system had iMessage messages from a user’s girlfriend in which they ended the relationshipSummarized in two sentences: “No longer in a relationship, wants to move her stuff out of the apartment.”

(B.Sc.)