Apple Says It Will Clarify That Its Bad Notification Summaries Are AI-Generated

Apple volition soon propulsion an update to iOS that more intelligibly denotes erstwhile notifications person been summarized by its Apple Intelligence software. The institution has received important pushback implicit the summarization feature, particularly from the BBC, which has complained that the AI exertion inaccurately summarized its quality notifications.

Back successful December, not agelong aft Apple rolled retired immoderate of the archetypal large features of Apple Intelligence, the BBC wrote successful an nonfiction that the AI had erroneously summarized a bid of notifications from its app to accidental that Luigi Mangione, the alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had changeable himself erstwhile successful information helium had not.

The BBC said that the mistake could wounded spot successful a media manufacture that is already suffering from a deficiency of assurance from the wide public.

After respective weeks, Apple yet responded to the BBC to accidental that it would beryllium addressing the issue.

“A bundle update successful the coming weeks volition further clarify erstwhile the substance being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence,” the institution told the BBC. “We promote users to study a interest if they presumption an unexpected notification summary.”

A notification from the BBC app that includes an incorrect summary. Credit: BBC

It is unclear however Apple volition clarify to users erstwhile a notification has been summarized. As it functions today, an app’s authoritative icon is displayed adjacent to the summaries. Perhaps erstwhile iOS does summarize a notification, it should regenerate the authoritative icon—in this lawsuit for the BBC app— with the icon for Siri instead, to marque the favoritism clear. That whitethorn not adjacent needfully beryllium enough, though. How often mightiness a novice idiosyncratic work these summarized notifications and not recognize what is going on?

The constituent of notification summaries is to rewrite aggregate notifications from an app into 1 azygous alert truthful that users tin rapidly get up to velocity and place thing that needs attention. But too blatant errors, AI summaries person besides been the taxable of mockery implicit sometimes awkward oregon useless summaries devoid of indispensable discourse that inactive necessitate speechmaking the afloat notifications to understand. If users bash not spot the summaries and person to reappraisal the implicit notifications anyway, they are not redeeming immoderate time. It is the aforesaid contented that befell Siri earlier it: The dependable adjunct failed astatine basical queries and users rapidly mislaid religion they could trust connected it for overmuch of thing too starting a timer.

ai summaries beryllium similar pic.twitter.com/KbmRecoU06

— Devin Lewtan (@DevinLewtan) January 4, 2025

Apple has been criticized for its debut of Apple Intelligence, with sentiment crossed societal media suggesting that galore radical find the archetypal features mostly useless oregon harmful to the iOS experience. In December, the institution added enactment for ChatGPT successful Siri, meaning immoderate much queries are present kicked implicit to the OpenAI chatbot to answer. Apple is expected to beef up Siri itself with conversational AI abilities, but caller reports suggest that volition instrumentality time. It besides intends to adhd different AI features to iOS, including the quality for Siri to interface with apps straight allowing users to, for instance, inquire the adjunct to find a meal preservation successful their email.

The operator for Apple releasing Apple Intelligence is intelligibly retired of a request to foodstuff iPhone upgrades; the smartphone accounts for more than half of Apple’s revenue, and Apple Intelligence is lone disposable connected the iPhone 15 Pro and above. But astir of the features released frankincense acold person been underwhelming—like the quality to place real-world objects by pointing the camera astatine them—and caller surveys suggest consumers are not buying caller iPhones to get them.

It should beryllium nary astonishment to anyone who has interacted with generative AI that these problems were going to occur. But it seems uncharacteristic of Apple to incorporated exertion into its products similar generative AI, which is notoriously hard to power and prone to hallucinating oregon producing outputs that are flat-out wrong. For a institution that cares truthful overmuch astir polish, this is simply a messiness truthful far.