Apple's Phased Rollout of AI Features: Craig Federighi Outlines Cautious Approach to Apple Intelligence

Craig Federighi Explains Phased Release of Apple Intelligence Features

In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple's head of software Craig Federighi has highlighted the company's measured, multi-phase approach to introducing Apple Intelligence features, with the initial iOS 18.1 release next week marking just the beginning of a staggered rollout over several months. "This is a big lift," Federighi told WSJ's Joanna Stern, explaining Apple's cautious strategy to integrating AI into its devices. "You could put something out there and have it be sort of a mess. Apple's point of view is more like, 'Let's try to get each piece right and release it when it's ready.'" The initial release will focus on basic features including Writing Tools for text summarization, notification summaries, and a Clean Up tool in Photos for removing unwanted objects. While most processing occurs on-device, Apple's Private Cloud Compute system handles more intensive tasks through encrypted servers. In other words, user data isn't stored or accessed for AI training. Apple's approach differs significantly from other large language models, which typically process all user input on cloud servers. According to Federighi, the company's personally oriented, privacy-first approach is also why Siri won't offer the sort of answers that one might get from something like ChatGPT. "There's a trade-off across capabilities," he explained. "Those other chatbots are great if you want to ask a question about quantum mechanics, and then have them write a poem about it, but they won't open your garage or send a text message. Will these worlds converge? Of course." Several anticipated features showcased by Apple at WWDC in June won't appear until later updates: iOS 18.2 is expected before the end of the year, and will introduce Image Playground for generating cartoon-style images and Genmoji for creating custom emoji. The update will also add ChatGPT integration for handling complex Siri queries. The most significant Siri enhancements are scheduled for iOS 18.4 around March 2025. These include onscreen awareness for contextual commands, personal context for better understanding of user data, and expanded app control capabilities. Initially, Apple Intelligence will only support U.S. English, with additional languages planned for next year. In contrast to its rivals, Apple is taking a particularly measured approach to image manipulation. The new Clean Up tool in Photos allows users to remove unwanted objects or people from images, but avoids more complex AI-generated alterations like changing the background. "People view photographic content as something they can rely on as indicative of reality," explained Federighi. "It's important to us that we help purvey accurate information, not fantasy."

Craig Federighi says Siri won't become sentient, but it'll get better | AppleInsider

Apple head of software Craig Federighi was asked about Siri and Apple Intelligence, and while he couldn't discuss the future, he was sure Siri was never going to become some kind of sentient pal. Apple Intelligence will launch alongside iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 before the end of October. Instead of falling into the hype cycle of its competitors, Apple seemingly took a more conservative approach by offering private and secure tools users can use every day. Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi sat down with Wall Street Journal Joanna Stern to discuss Apple's entry into AI and how it differs from the competition. One example he cited was that Siri is already helping users open their garage door or send a text, while ChatGPT isn't meant for those use cases. One moment, Federighi pointed out that Siri would continue to improve over time, but Apple isn't targeting a "sentient Pal." This differs greatly from other companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google which seem convinced they may create sentience at any time -- referred to as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Instead, Apple wants users to get useful text summaries or use Clean Up to remove objects without fundamentally changing an image. Other companies are happy to generate entire essays or turn a memory into a fabrication, both things Apple seems disinterested in doing. When asked about the delay releasing features for Apple Intelligence, Federighi called AI a "big lift" and that "we want to get it right." As opposed to putting "something out there and have it be sort of a mess." Apple sees Apple Intelligence as a decades-long arc that needs to be done responsibly. That arc begins with iOS 18.1 and the other operating systems on or around October 28.