Apple Suspends AI-Generated News Summaries Amid Accuracy Concerns

Error-Prone AI Features in Apple's Beta: What Went Wrong?

Apple has decided to disable its AI-generated news feature in the iOS 18.3 beta after some mishaps have been reported. Apple has removed its AI-powered news content in the iOS 18.3 beta for Apple News+ users after the algorithm displayed incorrect headlines. The feature intended to produce summaries of news and entertainment articles had to shut down after being accused of producing fake news, which is a common problem addressed in the tech industry as "hallucinations." It was first addressed in a released version of the new iOS being tested, released for a select group of developers and beta testers. Updates to iPads and Macs are also being tested, and the update for Mac may come out soon. With this development, many noticed that Apple disabled the feature possibly due to the glaring issues surrounding the integration of artificial intelligence in their products with the ability to work accurately and reliably.

Apple makes rare admission of failure with 'Apple Intelligece' feature has failed

TL;DR: Apple plans to disable one of its Apple Intelligence features on iOS devices due to multiple issues. A new report has revealed Apple is preparing to fall on it sword after releasing an Apple Intelligence feature that has been caught producing incorrect information. Unable to load embed for this post. A new report from the Washington Post claims Apple is preparing to disable its AI summaries generated for news and entertainment apps after the feature produced factually incorrect information several times. For those wondering what this feature does, Apple Intelligence users receive a notification summarizing the most popular news stories. The idea behind the feature is to provide users with a quick summary of the top headlines, which they can then engage with for further reading. However, the blunders by the app have become more frequent, with the BBC in December filing a lawsuit against Apple for the feature, stating the BBC reported that a man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had shot himself. Now, according to the WAPO report, Apple plans on temporarily disabling the feature in the coming iOS 18.3 update.

Apple pulls error-prone AI-generated news summaries in its beta iPhone software

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) -- Apple is suspending an error-prone feature that used artificial intelligence to deliver bogus news alerts to some iPhone owners. The decision was disclosed Thursday as part of a test version for the next software release, iOS 18.3. The beta version is only available to a relatively small group of iPhone users and developers, but the same features are usually released in an update available to all users several weeks after the testing begins. In the beta update, Apple said it is disabling the AI-generated feature for news and entertainment while it tries to fix the issue causing the technology to fabricate information -- a problem often described as "hallucinations" within the industry. Similar software updates for Apple's iPad and Mac computers are also in a testing phase. Even if it is just temporary, the suspension represents a blow to Apple's efforts to bring AI to the iPhone and its other products. The push began in earnest last September with the debut of the iPhone 16, which is equipped with the computer chip needed for a technology the Cupertino, California, company calls "Apple Intelligence." The premium iPhone 15 models from 2023 also contain the AI processor. The BBC was among the media organizations that complained about the balky news summary feature after Apple sent alerts that transformed its reports into false headlines. In one high-profile mistake last month, the BBC said Apple's AI-generated summary credited to BBC News falsely alerted that "Luigi Mangione shoots himself" when no such thing had happened involving the man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Google was forced to retool a new version of its search engine last year after AI-generated summaries on top of search results were found to be spitting out erroneous information, including some outlandish answers that caught the attention of social media.

Apple Disables AI-Generated News Summaries Amid Complaints of Made-Up Info | PYMNTS.com

Apple reportedly disabled artificial intelligence-generated news summaries on the beta version of a new iOS operating system. The company did so after earlier updates failed to stop the Apple Intelligence-powered feature from incorrectly summarizing or simply making up information, The Washington Post reported Friday (Jan. 17). Some news organizations asked Apple to do something about the feature after it botched summaries of their news articles while still attributing the articles to them, according to the report. The latest update, iOS 18.3, will soon be distributed to all iPhones that support Apple Intelligence, the report said. Apple aims to improve the news feature and bring it back in a future update, per the report. It was reported in November that Apple was facing mounting criticism over the inaccurate and misleading headline summaries produced by its AI-driven news summary feature. The BBC flagged the issue in December when a news alert summary that looked to come from the BBC app wrongly reported that Luigi Mangione, who is charged with killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO, had shot himself. In another instance, Apple's news summary said Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts Championship before the contest even began. Other publications experienced similar hallucinations from Apple's AI. Vincent Berthier, head of the technology and journalism desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French), called on Apple to remove the feature from its iPhones. "The automated production of false information attributed to a media outlet is a blow to the outlet's credibility and a danger to the public's right to reliable information on current affairs," Berthier wrote on the group's website. AI hallucinations, in which AI systems generate plausible but inaccurate information, present a vexing problem for businesses, PYMNTS reported in June. The risks posed by these fabricated outputs are coming into sharp focus as companies increasingly rely on AI to drive decision-making.

Apple pulls AI news summaries after blatantly false headlines

Following a series of blatantly false summaries of headlines and severe backlash from journalists and newsrooms, Apple has paused its AI-generated news summary push notifications...for now. "With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable," an Apple spokesperson told Mashable via email. The Apple Intelligence feature, which was introduced in 2024, really kicked off with the release of iOS 18.2, and launched in the UK on Dec. 11, was supposed to sum up news headlines in short push alerts. These are delivered to Apple devices compatible with iOS 18.1 and later including the latest iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. In December, BBC News accused Apple's AI of sending a false push notification attributed to the news outlet reporting that Luigi Mangione, arrested for the murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, had died by suicide. It was not Apple's only false BBC News headline summary, nor was it the only publisher represented by inaccurate Apple AI-generated news outlines. Apple reportedly didn't respond to the BBC's complaint until January, when, as the news outlet reported, the company "said it was working to clarify that summaries were AI-generated." In January, the National Union of Journalists and journalism body Reporters Without Borders publicly urged Apple to remove the generative AI feature, the latter criticising "the inability of AI systems to systematically publish quality information, even when it is based on journalistic sources." On Thursday, an Apple spokesperson told the BBC the company was "working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update." As MacRumors points out, Apple has updated the Notification Summaries feature in the Settings app with a warning, reading that the feature "may contain errors". Also, Notification Summaries that fall outside the News and Entertainment category will still appear, but in italics for now.

Apple halts AI feature that made iPhones hallucinate

The Apple Intelligence feature that falsely said Pete Hegseth had been fired and Luigi Mangione shot himself will be temporarily going away SAN FRANCISCO - Apple is temporarily disabling a feature of its marquee Apple Intelligence software that botched summaries of news headlines. On Thursday, Apple released a beta update to its software that disables Apple Intelligence summaries of notifications from news and entertainment apps. All iPhones that support Apple Intelligence will get the update when iOS 18.3 gets a wide release in the near future. It's a rare admission of product failure by the iPhone maker -- and the latest indication that tech giants are struggling to overcome the propensity of generative artificial intelligence software to "hallucinate," or make up, facts. Apple says it is working on improvements to the feature and will make them available in a future software update. The AI summarization feature was intended to help users catch up quickly on the content that appears in notifications on their phone's lock screens. When I reviewed the software in early beta last summer - and again when it was released widely - I noted that the AI sometimes misrepresented facts from the notifications it was summarizing. These mangled summaries were amusing on low-stakes text messages, but more dangerous on alerts from news apps. One time it incorrectly alerted me that Donald Trump had endorsed Tim Walz for president. As Apple released further updates to Apple Intelligence, the problems persisted. On Wednesday, an Apple Intelligence summary I received of news alerts from The Washington Post app misrepresented the facts of multiple separate news alerts. It incorrectly said Pete Hegseth had been fired, and that Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio had been confirmed to their new cabinet positions. Other news organizations, including the British Broadcasting Corp., had noted the problem, too, and formally asked Apple to take action. In one case, it falsely said Luigi Mangione shot himself. Other changes Apple made in its iOS 18.3 beta software update include a clearer notice that notification summaries can produce unexpected results, and a new italicized style for summarized notifications to differentiate them from standard notifications. Apple also says users will have the ability to manage whether notifications are summarized for an app right from the Lock Screen. It's not just Apple that's struggling to make generative AI provide reliable, accurate information in products used by millions. When Google updated its search engine last year with AI-written answers to queries, I documented in a review that it made up facts, misinterpreted questions and delivered out-of-date information. After the new Google AI Overviews became broadly available, it made high-profile errors including telling users to put glue on their pizza and saying Barack Obama was Muslim. Soon after, Google scaled back its AI answers by making them show up on fewer queries.

Apple Halts Disastrous AI System That Was Making Up Fake News Stories and Pushing Them to iPhone Users

Apple has temporarily halted its disastrous "Apple Intelligence" feature which consistently bungled its one task of summarizing breaking news alerts. An upcoming iOS 18.3 update will disable the summaries for news and entertainment apps, as the Washington Post's Geoffrey Fowler reports. Apple's admission that its feature has failed is rare for the iPhone maker, and signals the egregiousness of the disaster: for over a month, the company's feature has been consistently botching the news reporting of real publications and pushing them to the company's untold millions of users. Earlier this week, Fowler found that a recent push notification by the feature "got every fact wrong in its AI summary" of a story about Donald Trump's defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. "It's wildly irresponsible that Apple doesn't turn off summaries for news apps until it gets a bit better at this AI thing," Fowler wrote in his post on Bluesky. Apple seems to have listened, a change serving as a tacit admission of nagging issues plaguing large language model-based products. Despite several years of being in development, tools like Apple's summarizing tool are still struggling with "hallucinations," a problem some experts believe could be intrinsic to the tech. Apple hasn't entirely given up on the feature, though, promising to bring it back after making changes. In December, the BBC filed a complaint with the tech giant after the feature consistently botched summaries of its news reporting, going so far as to falsely state that Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. At first, Apple appeared to be unwilling to stop the experiment, telling the BBC in a statement that a "software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence." But considering the latest news, the company seems to have changed its tune in light of growing pressure. It's not just Apple -- Google and OpenAI have also struggled to address the "hallucination" problem, with the former's AI search feature infamously telling people to put glue on their pizzas to make sure the toppings don't slide off.

Apple pulls error-prone AI-generated news summaries in its beta iPhone software

(AP) -- is suspending an error-prone feature that used artificial intelligence to deliver bogus news alerts to some iPhone owners. The decision was disclosed Thursday as part of a test version for the next software release, iOS 18.3. The beta version is only available to a relatively small group of iPhone users and developers, but the same features are usually released in an update available to all users several weeks after the testing begins. In the beta update, said it is disabling the AI-generated feature for news and entertainment while it tries to fix the issue causing the technology to fabricate information -- a problem often described as "hallucinations" within the industry. Similar software updates for 's iPad and Mac computers are also in a testing phase. Even if it is just temporary, the suspension represents a blow to 's efforts to bring AI to the iPhone and its other products. The push began in earnest last September with the debut of the iPhone 16, which is equipped with the computer chip needed for a technology the , company calls "Apple Intelligence." The premium iPhone 15 models from 2023 also contain the AI processor. The was among the media organizations that complained about the balky news summary feature after sent alerts that transformed its reports into false headlines. In one high-profile mistake last month, the said 's AI-generated summary credited to falsely alerted that "Luigi Mangione shoots himself" when no such thing had happened involving the man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. was forced to retool a new version of its search engine last year after AI-generated summaries on top of search results were found to be spitting out erroneous information, including some outlandish answers that caught the attention of social media. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. , source

Apple Suspends Program That Sent Error-Filled AI-Generated News Alerts

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) -- Apple is suspending an error-prone feature that used artificial intelligence to deliver bogus news alerts to some iPhone owners. The decision was disclosed Thursday as part of a test version for the next software release, iOS 18.3. The beta version is only available to a relatively small group of iPhone users and developers, but the same features are usually released in an update available to all users several weeks after the testing begins. In the beta update, Apple said it is disabling the AI-generated feature for news and entertainment while it tries to fix the issue causing the technology to fabricate information -- a problem often described as "hallucinations" within the industry. Similar software updates for Apple's iPad and Mac computers are also in a testing phase. Even if it is just temporary, the suspension represents a blow to Apple's efforts to bring AI to the iPhone and its other products. The push began in earnest last September with the debut of the iPhone 16, which is equipped with the computer chip needed for a technology the Cupertino, California, company calls "Apple Intelligence." The premium iPhone 15 models from 2023 also contain the AI processor. The BBC was among the media organizations that complained about the balky news summary feature after Apple sent alerts that transformed its reports into false headlines. In one high-profile mistake last month, the BBC said Apple's AI-generated summary credited to BBC News falsely alerted that "Luigi Mangione shoots himself" when no such thing had happened involving the man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Google was forced to retool a new version of its search engine last year after AI-generated summaries on top of search results were found to be spitting out erroneous information, including some outlandish answers that caught the attention of social media.

Apple solves broken news alerts by turning off the AI

Summaries will return when Apple Intelligence has 'improved' Apple has released a new beta of iOS 18.3 and tacitly admitted that, yes, its AI-generated notification summaries need a bit more work. As well as other tweaks to the platform, the update temporarily turns off News and Entertainment summaries, which will be welcomed by outlets like the BBC. The Beeb complained loudly when Apple Intelligence incorrectly summarized its stories. It will also italicize text on the lock screen to make it easier to separate summaries from notifications. Additionally, it will warn users in the Settings app about potential errors and make it clearer that the function is still in beta. Users will also be able to disable notification summaries directly from the lock screen or Notification Center. It's a start, but the company could go a lot further. Perhaps an Apple icon could indicate when Apple Intelligence has intervened in matters. Or it could make the feature something users opt into rather than one they must opt out of. A BBC spokesperson said: "We're pleased that Apple has listened to our concerns and is pausing the summarization feature for news. We look forward to working with them constructively on next steps. Our priority is the accuracy of the news we deliver to audiences which is essential to building and maintaining trust." In December, an Apple Intelligence summary famously botched a BBC headline by claiming that Luigi Mangione, a man arrested over the murder of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thomson, had shot himself. This was not true, and certainly not what the BBC had written. A source at the BBC told The Register that it caused jitters in the newsroom and the corporation was determined to show it was not at fault. Apple plans to turn the summaries for News and Entertainment back on once it has made the feature more reliable. While the reputation of Apple Maps has improved, there is a risk that Apple Intelligence could stink up Cupertino if the feature remains a source of bad AI PR. ®

Apple Pauses AI Notification Summaries That Spread Fake News

Apple is making several changes to its Apple Intelligence-powered notification summaries after the feature was caught delivering inaccurate alerts. Earlier this month, it was unclear whether Apple would stop its AI from summarizing news because it initially said it would just warn users that its tool can be wrong. Now, Apple has temporarily disabled AI-generated notification summaries for news and entertainment apps in the latest developer beta for iOS 18.3. After Apple fixes underlying issues, the feature is expected to be re-enabled for these app categories in a future software update. While the feature is still available for other apps, Apple now displays an alert below the "Summarize Notifications" toggle in the Settings app that warns users about Apple Intelligence's accuracy. "Summaries may contain errors," the warning states. Apple's also going to italicize AI-generated text to make it more obvious when text is coming from an AI tool as opposed to a news outlet or an app's developer. Apple is also adding an option to help manage notification summaries from the lock screen. Users can swipe left on a notification summary to access the menu, where they can enable or disable the AI feature for individual apps. Last month, the BBC flagged glaring errors made by the AI summaries, which included an incorrect alert about the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter taking his own life when, in fact, Luigi Mangione did not do this. An Apple spokesperson previously said the company is "making improvements with the help of user feedback" and clarifying "when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence."

Apple Temporarily Ends AI News Summary Feature That Provided Wildly False Information

The system frequently turned accurate reporting by news outlets into inaccurate headlines, such as claiming the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO had committed suicide. Apple is "temporarily" disabling its AI-generated summaries of news alerts after users noticed the feature repeatedly generated wildly inaccurate headlines, which sparked concerns that it was spreading misinformation. In a statement to the technology news outlet Mashable, Apple said it is pushing out updates in beta versions of its operating systems that will disable the faulty news summaries for the "News & Entertainment" category. The feature will be disabled when the company pushes the iOS 18.3 update. The company says it is working on fixing the feature. The summary feature was rolled out as part of the new Apple Intelligence feature that is built into the iPhone 16 and available on other models that can run iOS 18.1. The feature was supposed to give users quick and informative summaries of notifications that show up on their lock screen. However, it came under fire as examples of it making up fake headlines surfaced on social media. In December, BBC issued a complaint to Apple after users noted that the summary feature misrepresented one of its news alerts to state that the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Luigi Mangione, shot himself. A spokesperson for the BBC said, "It is essential to us that our audiences can trust any information or journalism published in our name, and that includes notification." There have been several other examples of the feature generating false information. A summary of an alert from The New York Times claimed that Prime Minister Netanyahu had been arrested. The original story was about the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. The summary also falsely told users that President-elect Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, had been fired and that two of his other nominees had been confirmed when they were not. The faulty feature drew the ire of news outlets that worried that incorrect news summaries could lead users to believe that the journalistic outlets were publishing misinformation, which could tarnish their reputations and mislead the public. The journalism organization Reporters Without Borders criticized the AI summary feature as it noted it "took less than 48 hours [from the feature's launch] to demonstrate that its new generative AI tool is incapable of producing reliable information in a consistent, trustworthy manner." "The probabilistic way in which AI systems operate automatically disqualifies them as a reliable technology for news media that can be used in solutions aimed at the general public," the group said. Reporters Without Borders called on Apple to "act responsibly" to remove the summary feature. Apple did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Sun.

Apple Slammed for Sending Inaccurate AI News Notifications

Journalists and news outlets have called for Apple to suspend the feature. In November 2024, Apple launched a new iPhone feature that uses AI to summarize news stories into bitesize notifications. But barely a month after the Apple Intelligence update shipped, it has come under fire for sending users inaccurate notifications that completely misinterpret the news items they are meant to summarize." Apple's AI Blunder The first reports of Apple's inaccurate AI summaries emerged just days after the feature was launched. In one instance, the AI falsely claimed the BBC had reported that Luigi Mangione, the man arrested following the murder of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York, had shot himself. The misrepresentation prompted a complaint from the organization, which said the notifications undermined readers' trust in BBC News. "It is essential to us that our audiences can trust any information or journalism published in our name," a spokesperson said, adding that "that includes notifications." In another instance reported by ProPublica journalist Ken Schwencke, the feature mischaracterized a story about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, erroneously alleging that he had been arrested. Turn off AI Summaries, Demand Journalists Journalists have been among the most vocal critics of the feature, accusing Apple's AI of undermining their work by distorting key details. Geoffrey Fowler, a columnist for The Washington Post, said the mixups were "wildly irresponsible" and called for Apple to "turn off summaries for news apps until it gets a bit better at this AI thing." Other journalists and news outlets have also demanded that Apple disable the feature until it has ironed out the bug. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the U.K. urged Apple to revoke the feature before it caused any more damage. "AI-generated summaries falsely attributing information risk harm to the reputation of journalists reporting ethically," commented NUJ General Secretary Laura Davison. "The public must not be placed in a position of second-guessing the accuracy of news they receive." Hallucinations Still a Problem The issue of AI "hallucinations" -- a term used to describe instances where AI generates false or nonsensical information -- remains a persistent challenge for the industry. Novel techniques like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) can help minimize the amount of false information AI models output. However, as the Apple case demonstrates, methods of automatically fact-checking AI-generated content remain imperfect. As the Big Tech firm faces mounting criticism, it remains unclear whether Apple will pause or overhaul the controversial feature. For now, users are left questioning the reliability of their notifications, and journalists are left wondering if AI is ready to step into the newsroom at all.

Apple suspends AI news notifications, it's not ready yet

Apple has suspended its artificial intelligence (AI) feature aimed at summarizing news headlines due to criticism regarding inaccuracies. The company announced the decision following widespread backlash from journalists and media organizations, which labeled the feature as not ready for deployment. The decision to halt the service came after it misrepresented news articles, including a case reported by the BBC where an alert incorrectly stated that Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Inaccuracies were also noted in summaries related to reports from the New York Times and the Washington Post. Media outlets, including the BBC, had urged Apple to address these issues, warning that AI-generated errors contribute to misinformation and erode trust in news reporting. The BBC first reached out to Apple in December, but it wasn't until January that the company responded with plans for a software update aimed at clarifying the AI's role in creating summaries, which were optional and available only to users with the latest iPhones. Following the criticisms, Apple has decided to disable the feature entirely for news and entertainment applications. An Apple spokesperson confirmed that, with the latest beta software updates for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, notification summaries in the News & Entertainment category would temporarily be unavailable. In a move to keep users informed, Apple will also add a warning for those who opted into notification summaries for other applications, indicating that the feature is still in development and may contain errors. The BBC expressed satisfaction that Apple has paused the summarization feature for news, emphasizing the importance of delivering accurate news to maintain audience trust. Artificial intelligence in your pocket: How iPhone apps are shaping AI development Apple initially introduced the summarization feature in December to enhance user efficiency by compiling multiple notifications into a single alert on lock screens. Investors had anticipated successful implementation of AI advancements would spur demand for Apple products. On the same day of the announcement, Apple's shares fell more than 4% amid reports of struggling sales in China. This development comes less than six months after Apple launched several AI features, specifically its notification summarization service. The faulty summaries raise concerns within the recent trajectory of AI products, as various tech companies face scrutiny for similar issues. In a broader context, many analysts question the immediate potential of AI technology, as some doubt whether it can deliver sufficient value to justify its costs and complexities. Apple has emphasized its commitment to improving the summarization of notifications for news and entertainment apps, with intentions to restore the feature in a future software update. The company's current AI capabilities are limited to the iPhone 15 and 16 models and are primarily available in English-speaking countries, with plans to expand language support in the near future.

iOS 18.3 Errors: Apple Halts AI-Powered Notification Summaries

Apple has temporarily turned off its AI Notification Summaries feature in the latest developer beta of iOS 18.3. The tech giant has taken this decision after users voiced criticism over inaccurate summaries of news and entertainment app content. AI Notification Summaries introduced in iOS 18.1 were aimed at aggregating and summarizing notifications. However, it has faced backlash for misrepresenting information about sensitive news events. In one notable instance, Apple's AI wrongly stated that Luigi Mangione, linked to the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. The BBC criticized Apple for the error, leading the company to promise improvements and roll out updates clarifying when text is AI-generated.

Apple admits this Apple Intelligence feature still needs a lot of work

Table of Contents Table of Contents Changing the tone If it's AI, it looks different Apple's ambitions of serving a reliable AI experience on iPhones are off to a rough start. The BBC recently highlighted how one of the new Apple Intelligence features that summarizes notification alerts has been making up news and serving misleading information. The company is now making a course correction with the latest iOS beta update, which disables AI notification summaries for news apps, and makes a host of other preventive changes. The update in question is 18.3 Beta 3, and it is now widely available for testers. Recommended Videos Changing the tone To start, Apple has made some changes to the language. Earlier, the description in the Settings app mentioned that "summary accuracy may vary based on content." Now, it clearly mentions that "summaries may contain errors." Please enable Javascript to view this content If you are setting it up for the first time, you will see the following message, which is more in line with the criticism it has attracted: "This beta feature will occasionally make mistakes that could misrepresent the meaning of the original content." In the wake of the update, the most notable change, however, is a short-term pause on AI-generated summaries for news apps. The Settings app now clearly mentions that summaries are "Temporarily unavailable" for news applications, and a similar message appears during the setup process, as well. Apple has also disabled the summarization feature for all apps that are categorized under the "Entertainment" banner. If it's AI, it looks different Next, to make sure that there is a distinction between an alert's original message and the AI-summarized text, Apple is making stylistic changes. AI-generated summaries will now be italicized in the notification banner, while the rest will look normal. Moreover, if you are planning to disable notification summaries for certain apps, you no longer have to open the Settings app. Now, you can simply swipe left on a notification banner, tap on "Options" and select the "Turn off XYZ summaries" options in the context window. Apple won't be the first tech giant to experience difficulties with the execution of AI tools. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai admitted internally that the controversial flubs of Gemini AI were unacceptable, soon after the company temporarily paused its image generation capabilities and acknowledged the errors. Aside from the predictable AI stutters, Apple Intelligence still has a lot of functional ground to cover. Google, on the other hand, has already entered the agentic era of AI with tools like Deep Research, while Gemini extensions are already letting the AI perform tasks across different apps.

Apple disables AI notifications for news in its beta iPhone software

Apple has temporarily disabled Apple Intelligence summaries for news apps for users of its beta software in a sign of the challenges the company is dealing with in its AI technology. The decision to pause AI summaries comes weeks after the BBC highlighted that Apple's AI system had twisted its news notifications to display inaccurate facts. The pause only affects people using Apple's beta software, not those using the company's main operating systems. News and entertainment apps, such as The New York Times, began showing a short message inside the iPhone settings app on Thursday noting that AI-powered summaries were "temporarily unavailable." The pause on one of Apple Intelligence's core features highlights the challenge Apple faces in the roll out of its artificial intelligence technology, which has been scrutinized by many users on social media. "With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable," an Apple representative told CNBC in a statement. The spokesperson noted that Apple is working on improvements to the software that are coming in a future software update. The company did not say when it will roll out its iOS 18.3 software to users of the main version of the iPhone operating system, but it could take weeks, based on Apple's previous software release patterns. The decision to temporarily pause the AI summaries comes on the same day that Apple saw its stock close down 4%, marking its worst day of trading since Aug. 5. A reason for the drop was due to notable Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo writing on Monday that the Apple Intelligence suite of features does not appear to be boosting iPhone sales.

Apple scraps Apple Intelligence news feature after misinformation complaints -- what you need to know

Apple is pressing pause on one of the more controversial Apple Intelligence features until it can work out why it keeps spreading false information. The notification summary feature uses the on-device AI model to condense details from one or more notifications and only show what is pertinent to you. While this might be great for an email (although it does seem to prioritize spam more than it should), it can be problematic for news. In one high profile incident it falsely suggested Luigi Mangione -- the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson -- had shot himself. An Apple spokesperson told BBC News it was disabling the feature in the next beta update for iOS 18.3 and macOS 15.3 while it works on solving the problem. Apple says it is also putting AI-generated summaries of other apps in italics to highlight they aren't human written. "We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update Almost all Apple Intelligence features happen on-device using a relatively small language model. While AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have largely tackled the hallucination problem, this is still an issue for some smaller models. Apple's smart summaries condense the content of notifications, whether from your email, a website or the News App, to provide a clearer overview. This can result in funny, tragic or worrying results. For Apple News notifications it looks at the headline and body of the article to generate a short summary. Issues tend to arise when it combines multiple stories into one summary, creating confusing or completely wrong headlines. A BBC spokesperson said: "We're pleased that Apple has listened to our concerns and is pausing the summarization feature for news."

Apple to halt AI-generated news alerts after errors

The BBC was among the groups to complain, after an alert generated by Apple's AI falsely told some readers that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Media outlets and press groups had said the feature was not ready and the AI-generated errors were adding to issues of misinformation and falling trust in news. "With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable," an Apple spokesperson added. The feature had also inaccurately summarised headlines from the New York Times and the Washington Post, according to reports from journalists and others on social media. Apple had previously promised only a software update that would clarify the role of AI in creating the summaries, which were optional and only available to readers with the latest iPhones. This decision disables the feature entirely for news and entertainment apps. "We're pleased that Apple has listened to our concerns and is pausing the summarisation feature for news," a BBC spokesperson said. "We look forward to working with them constructively on next steps. Our priority is the accuracy of the news we deliver to audiences which is essential to building and maintaining trust." Apple had said the feature, which rolled out to users in the UK in December, was intended to make customers' lives more efficient. It groups together and rewrites previews of multiple recent app notifications into a single alert on users' lock screens. The decision comes as the company faces pressure to show its AI developments, which investors had been hoping would drive a new wave of demand for iPhones and other technology. The company's shares fell more than 4% in trading on Thursday after reports sales were struggling in China.

Apple sidelines AI news summaries due to errors

Apple pushed out a software update on Thursday which disabled news headlines and summaries generated using artificial intelligence that were lambasted for getting facts wrong. The move by the tech titan comes as it enhances its latest lineup of devices with "Apple Intelligence" in a market keen for assurance that the iPhone maker is a contender in the AI race. Apple's decision to temporarily disable the recently launched AI feature comes after the BBC and other news organizations complained that users were getting mistake-riddled or outright wrong headlines or news summary alerts. Apple deployed the update to developers working with a beta version of its software, sidelining the AI feature for news headlines. The tech giant plans to restore the feature when it is working properly and eventually roll it out to all users. Apple in June of last year unveiled new iPhones built with generative AI as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technological arms race. The company has a lot riding on the new iPhone 16 and hopes that customers are attracted to buy the latest models by its new AI powers. "We are thrilled to introduce the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at an event at the iPhone-maker's Silicon Valley headquarters. "Apple Intelligence" is a new suite of software features for all devices that was announced at the company's annual developers conference, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. In the short-term, the new powers include AI-infused image editing, translation, and small, creative touches in messaging, but not more ambitious breakthroughs promised by other AI players, such as OpenAI or Google. The features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google, which can produce well-crafted content simply by querying in everyday language. Google last year released AI-infused Pixel 9 smartphones, its challenge to the iPhone. Pixel phones account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Apple, but Google argued its new line is a chance to answer what -- after all the hype -- AI can actually do for customers. Samsung has also showcased AI across its line, and is expected to unveil a new flagship Galaxy smartphone at an event next week in Silicon Valley.

Apple Disables Notifications Summaries for These Apps on iOS 18.3 Beta 3

The Apple Intelligence feature was rolled out in late October Apple has reportedly disabled its Apple Intelligence notification summaries feature for some apps after facing backlash over error-laden summaries for news headlines. The artificial intelligence (AI) tool recently summarised a Washington Post news notification inaccurately, garnering flak from users and news publications. Last month, the BBC claimed that iOS 18 generated an incorrect summary of its news article. It is said that the company has temporarily disabled the feature, intending to fix the issues before re-releasing it to the public. With the iOS 18.1 update, the tech giant rolled out several Apple Intelligence features to eligible iPhone models. One of them was the notification summaries feature, which condenses the information of the notification to let users quickly scan through key details. It is an opt-in feature that also lets users choose which apps' notifications will be summarised. Since its release, the AI feature has been spotted generating erroneous summaries of notifications from news apps. In December 2024, the BBC approached Apple about false information being added to AI summaries. This was reportedly done after Apple Intelligence wrongly claimed that Luigi Mangione, who was convicted of the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, had committed suicide. A Bluesky user had also shared a screenshot where the AI tool summarised a New York Times story and falsely stated that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arrested, when the original news notification stated that a warrant for his arrest was issued by the International Criminal Court. Despite these issues, Apple did not make any efforts to pull down the feature or release a fix at the time. The latest reported error was spotted on Wednesday, when the feature incorrectly summarised a push notification from The Washington Post. In response, the publication's technology columnist Geoffrey Fowler wrote, "These mangled summaries were amusing on low-stakes text messages, but more dangerous on alerts from news apps. One time it incorrectly alerted me that Donald Trump had endorsed Tim Walz for president." While showing false and error-laden summaries to users is a big problem in itself, the issue is also compounded by how Apple actually displays the AI summaries. Currently, the AI-generated notification summaries do not clearly denote when AI is used to summarise a notification, aside from a small icon. According to 9to5Mac, iOS 18.3 notification summaries will highlight summarised text, by displaying it in italics. Meanwhile, AI summaries for apps in the news and entertainment category will be disabled by default withthe iOS 18.3 update. Users will also be able to shut off notification summaries for an app from the lock screen or the notification center as of iOS 18.3 beta 3, and Apple warns users that summaries "may contain errors" in the Settings app The publication also states that Apple will improve the feature and enable notification summaries for the disabled app category with an upcoming software update.

Apple plans to disable AI features summarising news notifications

Apple is disabling its AI-driven news summary feature following complaints from British media outlets about misrepresented news reports, including errors in notifications. Apple will improve the summaries and reintroduce the feature in future updates, alongside expanding language support and promoting the iPhone's AI capabilities in key markets.Less than six months after rolling out a series of artificial intelligence features, Apple is disabling one of its signature capabilities: aggregating and summarizing news notifications. The company revealed the change Thursday in a software update for developers. It follows an outcry from British media outlets that Apple's software was misrepresenting news reports. In December, the BBC was among the first to urge Apple to change its software. The call came after the BBC sent readers a notification about Luigi Mangione, the man arrested after the killing of Brian Thompson, a health care insurance executive, in New York City. Some iPhones summarized BBC news stories saying, "Luigi Mangione shoots himself." He had not. In addition to disabling news summaries, Apple said it would be adding a warning for users who opt in to receive notification summaries for other apps. The warning will say that the feature is still in development and that there could be errors. The flawed summaries feature is the latest in a series of issues that have marred new AI products. Last year, Google unveiled a chatbot that recommended people eat rocks and use glue to make pizza. Microsoft postponed features in an AI computer because of security vulnerabilities. And Humane, a startup that raised $240 million for a device called the Ai Pin, was panned by tech reviewers because its system sometimes fielded requests inaccurately. The early struggles with AI products have fueled questions about the technology's near-term potential. The technology, which can answer questions, create images and write code, has been heralded for its potential to disrupt businesses and create trillions of dollars in economic value. But some on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley have expressed doubts about whether AI will quickly produce enough benefits to justify its staggering costs. "It's hard and it's early, and there's not a clear value proposition yet for mainstream consumers," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, a tech research firm. "It is going to take time and it's going to be a real slow roll. No one knows yet what someone is going to look at and say, 'That's really valuable.'" In a note to developers, Apple said it was working to improve summaries of notifications for news and entertainment apps. It plans to make the feature available again in a future software update. A BBC spokesperson said it was pleased that Apple had heard its concerns and decided to make a change. "Our priority is the accuracy of the news we deliver to audiences, which is essential to building and maintaining trust," he added. The news of Apple's changes was reported earlier by several websites devoted to Apple, including MacRumors and 9to5Mac. Apple was among the last of tech's biggest companies to enter the AI arms race. Last year, the company introduced iPhones with an AI software system called Apple Intelligence. It said the system would be able to sort messages, offer writing suggestions and create a more capable Siri powered by generative AI. But the features weren't available on the iPhones that Apple began shipping in September. Instead, over the past few months, it has gradually introduced some features, such as tools to improve emails and the ability to access ChatGPT through Siri. The AI capabilities are only available on iPhone 15 and 16 models. The company has limited its availability to English-speaking countries, including the United States, Australia and Britain. In April, Apple plans to add support for Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages. The company made Apple Intelligence the focus of its promotions of the iPhone 16. But its lack of availability in some key markets, such as China, weakened demand for the devices. Apple's share of the global smartphone market fell to 18% last year from 19% in 2023, according to Counterpoint Research, a firm that tracks device sales. "There's a lot of big questions about the initial efforts to do on-device AI," said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, a market research firm. "In the long run, it will unquestionably be the right way to go, but it's not a trivial task."

Apple suspends AI-generated news summaries after criticism over misleading notifications

A spokesperson says Apple Intelligence features are still in their infancy and it is "continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback". Apple has suspended AI-generated summaries of news notifications after some were criticised for being misleading and false. Many publishers flagged up errors in the way the feature had worded their original push notifications. The National Union of Journalists told Sky News earlier this week it wasn't "fit for purpose" and should be taken down. Reporters Without Borders warned it was a "danger to the public's right to reliable information" and could damage the reputation of news organisations. Notifications from Sky News, the BBC, The New York Times and The Daily Telegraph were among those affected. Examples include suggesting Sir Keir Starmer had changed his mind on inheritance tax, murder suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself, Luke Littler had won the darts world championships before the final, and that rape survivor Gisele Pelicot had "defended her convictions". It comes at a time when many people are increasingly seeing misleading information on social media sites, some of it enabled by AI. Apple paused the summary feature for news and entertainment apps as part of an iOS update released on Thursday. Users who had opted in are being shown a "temporarily unavailable" message, but it's believed the service will be reinstated after improvements. Read more from Sky News: SpaceX Starship rocket blows up minutes after launch American #TikTokrefugees flood Chinese social media app Before the rollback, a spokesperson told Sky News the original content was "a quick tap away", adding: "Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback. "A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarisation provided by Apple Intelligence."

Apple sidelines AI news summaries due to errors

San Francisco (AFP) - Apple pushed out a software update on Thursday which disabled news headlines and summaries generated using artificial intelligence that were lambasted for getting facts wrong. The move by the tech titan comes as it enhances its latest lineup of devices with "Apple Intelligence" in a market keen for assurance that the iPhone maker is a contender in the AI race. Apple's decision to temporarily disable the recently launched AI feature comes after the BBC and other news organizations complained that users were getting mistake-riddled or outright wrong headlines or news summary alerts. Apple deployed the update to developers working with a beta version of its sofware, sidelining the AI feature for news headlines. The tech giant plans to restore the feature when it is working properly and eventually roll it out to all users. Apple in June of last year unveiled new iPhones built with generative AI as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technological arms race. The company has a lot riding on the new iPhone 16 and hopes that customers are attracted to buy the latest models by its new AI powers. "We are thrilled to introduce the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at an event at the iPhone-maker's Silicon Valley headquarters. "Apple Intelligence" is a new suite of software features for all devices that was announced at the company's annual developers conference, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. In the short-term, the new powers include AI-infused image editing, translation, and small, creative touches in messaging, but not more ambitious breakthroughs promised by other AI players, such as OpenAI or Google. The features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google, which can produce well-crafted content simply by querying in everyday language. Google last year released AI-infused Pixel 9 smartphones, its challenge to the iPhone. Pixel phomes account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Apple, but Google argued its new line is a chance to answer what -- after all the hype -- AI can actually do for customers. Samsung has also showcased AI across its line, and is expected to unveil a new flagship Galaxy smartphone at an event next week in Silicon Valley.

Apple pauses AI notification summaries for news after generating false alerts | TechCrunch

Apple is pausing AI notification summaries for news and entertainment apps after facing backlash for generating inaccurate news alerts. In addition, the company is introducing changes to notification summaries as a whole to allow for greater transparency. With the latest round of developer previews for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Apple is disabling notification summaries entirely for all news and entertainment apps and will re-enable them in a future update after refining them. The change comes a few weeks after the BBC complained to Apple after one of its articles was misrepresented to state that Luigi Mangione, the man charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. In addition to pulling notification summaries for select apps, all notification summaries will now be shown in italics to make it easier for users to tell them apart from regular notifications. Plus, users will be able to disable notification summaries for a specific app directly from their Lock Screen. Apple will also start notifying users that the notification summaries feature is a beta feature when they enable the feature. This notification, found in the Settings app, will inform users that the feature may contain errors. The changes don't come as a surprise, as Apple last week that it would release an update to "further clarify" that the text being displayed in a notification summary is generated by Apple Intelligence. Some suspected this would be in the form of a new label or badge but, so far, that's not the case. While a public beta is expected to land next week, it's unknown when iOS 18.3 will be available to the general public.

Apple sidelines AI news summaries due to errors

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Apple pushed out a software update on Thursday which disabled news headlines and summaries generated using artificial intelligence that were lambasted for getting facts wrong. The move by the tech titan comes as it enhances its latest lineup of devices with "Apple Intelligence" in a market keen for assurance that the iPhone maker is a contender in the AI race. Apple's decision to temporarily disable the recently launched AI feature comes after the BBC and other news organisations complained that users were getting mistake-riddled or outright wrong headlines or news summary alerts. Apple deployed the update to developers working with a beta version of its software, sidelining the AI feature for news headlines. The tech giant plans to restore the feature when it is working properly and eventually roll it out to all users. Apple in June of last year unveiled new iPhones built with generative AI as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technological arms race. The company has a lot riding on the new iPhone 16 and hopes that customers are attracted to buy the latest models by its new AI powers. "We are thrilled to introduce the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at an event at the iPhone-maker's Silicon Valley headquarters. "Apple Intelligence" is a new suite of software features for all devices that was announced at the company's annual developers conference, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. In the short-term, the new powers include AI-infused image editing, translation, and small, creative touches in messaging, but not more ambitious breakthroughs promised by other AI players, such as OpenAI or Google. The features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google, which can produce well-crafted content simply by querying in everyday language. Google last year released AI-infused Pixel 9 smartphones, its challenge to the iPhone. Pixel phones account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Apple, but Google argued its new line is a chance to answer what -- after all the hype -- AI can actually do for customers. Samsung has also showcased AI across its line, and is expected to unveil a new flagship Galaxy smartphone at an event next week in Silicon Valley.

Apple's AI Is Constantly Butchering Huge News Stories Sent to Millions of Users

Apple has come under intense scrutiny for rolling out an underbaked AI-powered feature that summarizes breaking news -- while often butchering it beyond recognition. For over a month, roughly as long as the feature has been available to iPhone users, publishers have found that it consistently generates false information and pushes it to millions of users. Despite broadcasting a barrage of fabrications for weeks, Apple has yet to meaningfully address the problem. "This is my periodic rant that Apple Intelligence is so bad that today it got every fact wrong in its AI a summary of Washington Post news alerts," the newspaper's tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler wrote in a post on Bluesky this week. Fowler appended a screenshot of an alert, which claimed that Pete Hegseth, who's been facing a confrontational confirmation hearing for the role of defense secretary this week, had been fired by his former employer, Fox News -- which is false and not what the WaPo's syndication of an Associated Press story actually said. The AI alert also claimed that Florida senator Marco Cubio had been sworn in as secretary of state, which is also false as of the time of writing. "It's wildly irresponsible that Apple doesn't turn off summaries for news apps until it gets a bit better at this AI thing," Fowler added. The constant blunders of Apple's AI summaries put the tech's nagging shortcomings on full display, demonstrating that even tech giants like Apple are failing miserably to successfully integrate AI without constantly embarrassing themselves. AI models are still coming up with all sorts of "hallucinated" lies, a problem experts believe could be intrinsic to the tech. After all, large language models like the one powering Apple's summarizing feature simply predict the next word based on probability and are incapable of actually understanding the content they're paraphrasing, at least for the time being. And the stakes are high, given the context. Apple's notifications are intended to alert iPhone users to breaking news -- not sow distrust and confusion. The story also highlights a stark power imbalance, with news organizations powerless to determine how Apple represents their work to its vast number of users. "News organizations have vigorously complained to Apple about this, but we have no power over what iOS does to the accurate and expertly crafted alerts we send out," Fowler wrote in a followup. In December, the BBC first filed a complaint with Apple after the feature mistakenly claimed that Luigi Mangione, the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself -- an egregious and easily disproven fabrication. Last week, Apple finally caved and responded to the complaint, vowing to add a clarifying disclaimer that the summaries were AI-generated while also attempting to distance itself from bearing any responsibility. "Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback," a company spokesperson told the BBC in a statement. "A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence." "We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary," the company continued. The disclaimer unintentionally points to the dubious value proposition of today's AI: what's the point of a summarizing feature if the company is forced to include a disclaimer on each one that it might be entirely wrong? Should Apple's customers really be the ones responsible for pointing out each time its AI summaries are spreading lies? "It just transfers the responsibility to users, who -- in an already confusing information landscape -- will be expected to check if information is true or not," Reporters Without Borders technology and journalism desk head Vincent Berthier told the BBC. Journalists are particularly worried about further eroding trust in the news industry, a pertinent topic given the tidal wave of AI slop that has been crashing over the internet. "At a time where access to accurate reporting has never been more important, the public must not be placed in a position of second-guessing the accuracy of news they receive," the National Union of Journalists general secretary Laura Davison told the BBC.

Apple quietly fixes a major Apple Intelligence 'bug'

Much of Apple Intelligence is still in beta, but Notification summaries has become somewhat of a hot topic feature within Apple's first AI-focused feature set. It's had a few fumbles, most notably with summarizing a BBC story about Luigi Mangione, who is the accused killer of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, quite incorrectly. It's not unheard of for AI and these LLMs (large language models) that power them to hallucinate at times, but this one was particularly prominent. This caused the BBC and other news organizations to ask Apple to fix or remove the feature before future errors were created. It happened to a few other outlets, including the New York Times, and Apple issued a statement, noting that the feature was in beta and that a software update would "further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence." It also reminded us that users of Apple Intelligence can always provide feedback, and now we're seeing some results. In the latest betas (developer and public) of iOS 18.3, Apple has temporarily disabled Notification summaries for News and Entertainment apps fixing the criticisms altogether. Firstly, you can now turn off notification summaries on an app-by-app basis, meaning you can turn it off for all news apps if you choose. This is a welcomed addition, and under Settings > Notifications > Summarize Notifications, it even states, "Summaries may contain errors." As you scroll through, you'll see that News apps, as well as Entertainment or Streaming ones, might be turned on but are labeled as "Temporarily Unavailable." This makes it clear that Apple is working behind the scenes on refining the notification summary process for these and it's likely that we'll see these come back in a forthcoming update, likely first in another beta. Further, when you see these notification summaries on your lock screen, the ones that have been summarised will be shown with italicized text. This should make it easier to see them alongside regular notifications, and you can, of course, tap in to expand and see the original one. As a whole, it's great to see Apple being responsive here, and considering this is the latest beta, it's likely we'll see these changes in the full release of 18.3 too. There is, of course, no exact timing on when that will arrive, but we'll be sure to let you know as soon as it does.

Apple calls a halt to AI notification summaries amid backlash

The pause comes after the BBC issued a complaint in the spreading of generated, falsified information. Apple has announced it will temporarily pause the AI notification feature for news and entertainment platforms, after facing serious backlash over the generation of false alerts. The company is set to introduce changes to their notification summaries, in order to allow for greater transparency. It is understood that the temporarily disabled notification summaries will return as a feature in a future software update, with several changes made. For example, there will be an added message that it is a beta feature and therefore prone to error. Additionally, future summaries will be italicised to mark them as clearly distinct from traditional notifications. Users will also be able to disable summaries for specific apps straight from the lock screen. The changes come after serious backlash from the BBC, who issued a complaint after Apple's AI technology generated false information regarding high-profile figures and issued the notifications seemingly from the BBC's own platform. Reporters without Borders, an advocacy group, also called for changes regarding the Apple Intelligence news feature, as they said it was a blow to credibility within the media and a danger to the public's right to reliable information. Available on compatible devices in iOS 18.1 and later, Apple Intelligence notification summaries are designed to gather information from specific news and entertainment apps, generating one-sentence overviews of relevant content, via an alert or notification format. However, problems quickly arose when it was apparent that the short summaries were pulling incorrect details and using them to inform the alerts. While news summaries are currently disabled, Apple's feature is still available in relation to other apps on people's devices, but it can be switched off in the notifications section in settings. SiliconRepublic.com has reached out to Apple for a comment. In related news, last week, in a statement published on 8 January, Apple claimed that it has never used Siri data for marketing, or sold it for any purpose. The statement came after the company settled a class action lawsuit on its monitoring of private audio via Siri, refuting claims that the company ever sold Siri's data. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Apple's Latest iOS Beta Quietly Kills AI News Notifications

Apple is taking its AI Notification Summaries back to the drawing board. As someone who is inundated with emails and messages throughout the day, one of the Apple Intelligence features I was most cautiously optimistic about was Notification Summaries. The feature aims to make sorting through the pings on your Lock Screen a neater, faster experience, by grouping multiple notifications from the same app together and quickly summarizing the lot. Unfortunately, it seems the feature isn't quite ready yet, seeing as the BBC complained to Apple that Notification Summaries made up false headlines for its news stories. Now, with iOS 18.3 beta 3, Apple is rolling back how involved the feature is, and is making it easier to opt out of entirely. No AI summaries for news apps Perhaps it's a response to reporting like the BBC's, or perhaps it's a coincidence, but the biggest change to Notification Summaries in the latest iOS 18.3 beta is that they're being paused for news and entertainment apps. If you try to enable notification summaries for a news app, iOS will tell you the setting is "temporarily unavailable," although you can still turn it on to start receiving summaries when they're re-enabled. Given that Notification Summaries had previously sent users what looked like an official BBC alert that United Healthcare shooting suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself when the paper only mentioned an "angry outburst," that's probably for the best. More direct warnings about hallucinations The Notification Summaries settings page also now blatantly tells users that "Summaries may contain errors," where it had previously only said "summary accuracy may vary based on content." Both are technically true, although the former's a bit more direct. To that end, when you're setting up Notification Summaries for the first time, Apple will also now tell you, "This beta feature will occasionally make mistakes that could misrepresent the meaning of the original content." Yes, even the version of Notification Summaries present in the current public iOS build is considered a beta. AI-written notifications will look different This really should have been there at launch. In order to indicate when a notification is an AI-written summary rather than an original, Notification Summaries will now be written in italics. Previously, the only real indication when a notification was a summary was a small icon to the left of the summary showing that multiple notifications were being summarized and grouped together. You can disable any app's Notification Summaries from the notification banner Previously, the only way to disable Notification Summaries once you had set it up was to dive into the Settings app, where you could either disable the feature altogether or on an app-by-app basis. In the beta, you can now instead turn off Notification Summaries by swiping down from the top of your Home Screen and looking at your notification banners, but only on a per-app basis. To do this, swipe left on any app's notification banner, tap Options, then select Turn off [app name] Summaries. You can also rate a summary's accuracy from this menu, by giving it either a thumbs up or thumbs down. On the off chance that you do want to try Notification Summaries but didn't enable them when first setting up Apple Intelligence, you can do so under Settings > Notifications > Summarize Notifications. How to Install iOS 18.3 beta 3 While the updated Notification Summaries feature will make its way to all compatible iPhones with iOS 18.3's final release, you can try it out right now. To install the current iOS 18.3 beta, first ensure you have a compatible phone, then double-check that you've enrolled your iPhone into Apple's beta program at beta.apple.com. From here, simply open your iPhone and navigate to Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates. If you're also enrolled in the developer beta program (you don't need to be in this instance), you'll be able to choose between iOS 18 Developer Beta or iOS 18 Public Beta here, but either will work if you only see one. Make your selection, then tap Back and download iOS 18.3 Beta 3 when it pops up on your screen. Note that beta releases tend to be buggier than final builds, so download this update to your main device at your own risk.

Apple's AI news summaries are proving just as bad as Google's first foray with Overviews

Gemini extensions for Samsung stock apps could supercharge Galaxy AI on the S25 Summary Apple's AI-generated news summaries are facing accuracy issues similar to Google's early struggles with its AI Overviews feature, prompting backlash from news outlets. Apple has temporarily disabled news and entertainment notification summaries in the iOS 18.3 beta and is implementing other changes to improve accuracy and transparency, including clearer beta labeling and user controls. Like Google before it, Apple is now working to 'fine-tune' its AI summaries after initial rollout problems. ✕ Remove Ads Apple Intelligence is in its pizza-glue era, and while the Cupertino-based tech giant's AI isn't advising users to eat rocks, it has hit a similar snag with its AI-generated news summaries. For those unaware, Google's Gemini-powered AI Overviews feature was announced at Google I/O 2024 and was released in the same month. Overviews, as we've come to familiarize ourselves with since, are concise summaries of search results highlighted in an information card atop the search results. During its infancy, the AI feature was (sometimes) drawing information from satirical articles and Reddit/Quora threads and comments. This resulted in Overviews spewing inaccurate, nonsensical, and sometimes outright dangerous results. Related Google Search quietly fixed its AI problem by ignoring Quora and cutting back on Overviews Search results are starting to make sense again Posts1 ✕ Remove Ads Google soon went into damage control mode, and subsequently set parameters to prevent information from the likes of Reddit and Quora from making its way to Overviews. The iPhone-maker, now, is in a similar boat, highlighting how unprepared Apple Intelligence currently is when it comes to handling summaries. The Cupertino-based tech giant released its Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries with iOS 18.1 on iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The feature is meant to summarize any and all types of "long or stacked notifications," including text messages, app alerts, news, and entertainment-related notifications. The feature's implementation, however, has been inconsistent, especially when it comes to news summaries. Soon after the feature's release, it was found to be spouting false news summaries, and rightfully so, it received a lot of backlash from news outlets including The BBC, Sky News, and more in the month of December 2024. Subsequently, even the National Union of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders had to urge the tech giant to remove or re-think its AI feature after it "[threatened] reliable journalism." ✕ Remove Ads Like Google before it, Apple has some serious fine tuning to do Source: BBC More than a month after complaints first started emerging, Apple has begun taking action, albeit they're currently only reflected in beta, as highlighted by 9to5mac. The tech giant released iOS 18.3 beta and developer beta on January 16, and they feature several changes to the notification summary feature. For starters, Apple has outright disabled summaries for notifications stemming from news and entertainment applications. The tech giant will reportedly re-enable the feature down the line, likely after stringent internal testing. Other changes include more prominent prompts that indicate the feature is still in beta, an option to disable notification summaries for an app directly from its notification, italicized font to distinguish notification summaries from regular notifications, alongside an explicit warning in the Settings app that says notification summaries "may contain errors." ✕ Remove Ads Related In the AI era, Google, Samsung, and Apple have made us all beta testers Say goodbye to finished software Posts

It's time for Apple to press pause on its AI news summaries

Apple should shut off its AI summaries of news alerts until it can prevent them from spreading fake news. Anecdotes of iPhone users seeing weirdly phrased summaries of texts and other content are common. But getting news headlines wrong is another matter. Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler is the latest to call out the problem. "[A]pple Intelligence is so bad that today it got every fact wrong in its AI summary of [Washington Post] news alerts," Fowler posted on Bluesky Wednesday. An Apple Intelligence Fowler got on his iPhone told him that Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth has been "fired," that Trump's tariff policies are affecting inflation, and that Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio, the incoming administration's attorney general and state secretary nominees, respectively, were confirmed for their cabinet posts. None of those AI summarizations correctly reflected the original notifications. "It's wildly irresponsible that Apple doesn't turn off summaries for news apps until it gets a bit better at this AI thing," Fowler wrote. He's right. Apple is contributing to the misinformation problem now burning out of control in the digital space. All for barely-needed summarizations of already pithy news headlines. This isn't the first time Apple Intelligence's glaring summarization errors have been called for gross inaccuracies. In November, one misrepresented a headline about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The following month, the BBC complained that an Apple notification had said a BBC story reported that Luigi Mangione, charged with killing United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Days after that error, the journalist organization "Reporters Without Borders" called on Apple to suspend the news alert summaries. The group said it is "very concerned by the risks posed to media outlets."

Apple pauses AI news summaries due to accuracy concerns By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has temporarily halted using artificial intelligence news summaries for its news apps. This move comes in the wake of recent issues with the accuracy of its AI technology. The decision to suspend AI summaries was made several weeks after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) pointed out that Apple's AI system had distorted its news notifications, resulting in the presentation of incorrect information. In the previous month, the BBC had identified significant mistakes made by the AI summaries. One such error included a false alert about an alleged shooter, supposedly the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, taking his own life. However, this was not the case, as Luigi Mangione, the individual in question, had not done so. The suspension of AI news summaries only impacts individuals who are using Apple's beta software. Users operating the company's main operating systems are not affected by this pause.

Apple suspends AI-generated news alert service after BBC complaint

Inaccurate alerts branded with broadcaster's logo sent to iPhone users but tech firm works on improvements Apple is suspending an artificial intelligence feature that made inaccurate summaries of news headlines. The tech company received a complaint from the BBC after the AI-generated service issued a news alert branded with the corporation's logo falsely telling some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Other false notices that carried the BBC logo included one claiming Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts final before playing in it and another that the tennis player Rafael Nadal had come out as gay. Apple said in a statement that the feature would be suspended as part of its next software update, due imminently. Other news organisations were affected by the errors, with a summary of New York Times alerts wrongly claiming that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had been arrested. "Notification summaries for the news and entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable," Apple said. "We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update." The news summaries are part of Apple's drive to include more AI features in its products, under the label Apple Intelligence - which is available in the US, UK, Australia and Canada but not in the EU and China. Apple had previously said it would update, rather than suspend, the feature. In the UK, the National Union of Journalists had called for the service to be removed to "ensure it plays no role in contributing to the misinformation already prevalent and causing harm to journalism online". The feature summarised users' news notifications and grouped them into a single alert on their lock screens. Apple is working on a new version that will warn iPhone users of potential errors and will use italicised text. "We're pleased that Apple has listened to our concerns and is pausing the summarisation feature for news," a BBC spokesperson said. "We look forward to working with them constructively on next steps. Our priority is the accuracy of the news we deliver to audiences which is essential to building and maintaining trust."

Apple blasted after AI-generated news summary falsely claims Pete...

Apple is facing heavy criticism over its much-hyped artificial intelligence tool's habit of spitting out fake news in its AI-generated summaries - including an inaccurate alert about Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth getting "fired." On Wednesday, the Apple Intelligence summaries -- which are sent as alerts to iPhones -- not only falsely declared that Hegseth, who had a Senate confirmation hearing, was mysteriously "fired;" but that President-elect Donald Trump tariffs were impacting inflation; and that Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio and US Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi were "confirmed," according to a screenshot taken by Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler. None of the details included in the AI-generated summary, which was likely sent out to millions of iPhone users, were correct - nor did they accurately reflect the Washington Post's actual real-time news alerts. "This is my periodic rant that Apple Intelligence is so bad that today it got every fact wrong its [sic] AI a summary of @washingtonpost.com news alerts," Fowler wrote on social media platform Bluesky. "It's wildly irresponsible that Apple doesn't turn off summaries for news apps until it gets a bit better at this AI thing." Apple Intelligence debuted last fall and has gradually ramped up features available to its users. The new AI software has been a major selling point as Apple rolls out its next generations of iPhones after a period of stagnating sales. Apple representatives did not immediately return The Post's request for comment. "News organizations have vigorously complained to Apple about this, but we have no power over what iOS does to the accurate and expertly crafted alerts we sent out," Fowler also wrote. Several news outlets have publicly called out Apple for regurgitating false information through its AI-generated summaries. Last month, the BBC said it had contacted Apple to complain after Apple Intelligence had falsely claimed that BBC News reported that Luigi Mangione, who was arrested for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. "It is essential to us that our audiences can trust any information or journalism published in our name and that includes notifications," a BBC spokesperson said at the time In November, a ProPublica editor shared a screenshot of an instance in which Apple Intelligence made the blatantly false claim that the New York Times had reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was under arrest. Earlier this month, Apple said an update to address bugs in the news summary feature would be sent out "in the coming weeks." "Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback," Apple said in a statement at the time, according to the BBC. "A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence," the statement added. "We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary." Apple isn't the only Big Tech giant that has come under fire for inaccurate AI-generated content over the last year. As The Post reported last year, Google was pilloried after its "AI Overviews" feature in search results dispensed many bizarre answers - including encouraging users to eat rocks for nutrition.

Apple Intelligence's Notification summary controversy is a reminder that AI will improve with time, and I'm not giving up on it

I've been using Apple Intelligence Notification summaries since September, and over five months later, I'm still yet to truly understand the benefit of Apple's AI tool. Apple Intelligence loves summaries in general, and most of the time, they're actually pretty good. Whether that's summarizing emails or articles, Apple Intelligence has you sorted. It's definitely not a necessity, nor are these summarizing tools worth upgrading to an iPhone 16 Pro for, but it's a nice-to-have and I've grown to appreciate the options. However, Apple has been in the news recently due to the notification summarization feature completely misinterpreting news from outlets like the BBC and The New York Times. From claiming Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York, had killed himself to announcing Luke Littler had won the World Darts Championship final before the match had even begun, Notification summaries have been plagued with criticism. There is so much criticism, in fact, that Apple has decided to halt Notification summaries for News and Entertainment apps altogether in the latest iOS 18.3 betas for the time being, as well as emphasize that all Apple Intelligence features, including this one, are still in beta. The AI era of software development is tricky for consumers like me to wrap their heads around; after all, we're used to features launching when ready with incremental updates throughout the years rather than regular updates to fine-tune the tools already out in the wild. In the case of Apple Intelligence and AI in general, it's almost as if we, as consumers, need to come to terms with the fact that smarter software means more mistakes, and more mistakes means more consistent updates. Apple has a track record of revealing software as part of hardware launches and releasing the features later. Think back to Deep Fusion, which was revealed as part of the iPhone 11's major camera upgrades only to launch as part of iOS 13.2 months later. This time, however, it feels different; Apple wants users to know that Apple Intelligence and all it offers is still in beta, even if it's available as part of a general software release. This almost protects the company from criticism, after all it's hard to call a feature half-baked when it's essentially still in development. In the case of Notification summaries, we've got our first glimpse into how Apple will react to criticism of its new venture into generative AI, and the company's response is somewhat reassuring. After an outpour of criticism towards the AI tool falsely summarizing notifications from news apps, Apple has chosen to switch the functionality off for the time being while it works on Apple Intelligence to ensure this accidental fake news doesn't continue in the future. This adjustment shows that AI in the iPhone will constantly evolve over time, depending on user feedback and technological evolutions. On paper, iOS 18.3 might not be the most glamorous Apple Intelligence update we've seen to date, but it could be the most eye-opening. After all, there was always going to be some backlash as Apple moved into an AI-fuelled world, and if, in order to get there, we, as consumers, need to go through some turbulence, then I think we're just going to have to accept it. In this new AI world, where every product, from robot vacuums to fridges, has the buzzword littered in marketing, consumers will have to accept that products and their software are likely to evolve, and that demands more trust in the companies we're buying from. I'm still bullish on Apple Intelligence and Apple creating smartphone AI tools that are more than just a gimmick, though. iOS 18.3 is the first sign that the company is willing to listen, and that fills me with hope for the future.

5 ways iOS 18.3 beta addresses false AI notification summaries

The feature is now clearly marked as a beta in the Settings app, and notification summaries are italicized as an indicator. Notification summaries are one of the prominent Apple Intelligence perks introduced last year. As its name suggests, the feature scans long or multiple alerts sent by the same app and displays a one-line sentence highlighting their gist. Expectedly, the tool doesn't always work reliably, and publications like the BBC have complained about it generating false news headlines. To address these concerns, Apple has rolled out five changes to AI notification summaries with the latest iOS 18 beta.

Your iPhone's AI Notification Summaries Make Apple Intelligence Look Absurd. Now Apple Might Kill the Feature

Nelson Aguilar is an LA-based tech how-to writer and graduate of UCLA. With more than a decade of experience, he covers Apple and Google and writes on iPhone and Android features, privacy and security settings and more. The feature I dislike the most about Apple Intelligence has to be the AI-powered notification summaries. These notification summaries are supposed to provide you with a quick way to glance at important information from your apps. If you have multiple notifications from an app like Apple News, the notification summaries feature recaps all your notifications into a short sentence or two, so that you don't have to read each individual notification you've received. Unfortunately, these notification summaries produce some truly absurd and inaccurate content. In fact, it's been so bad that Apple has paused these AI-generated notification summaries as part of the latest iOS 18.3 beta released on Thursday. However, if you're on iOS 18.2, you still have these summaries on by default. However, if you're as unhappy with them as I've been, there is a way to disable notification summaries. Here's how. Read more: How to Get Apple Intelligence on Your iPhone With iOS 18.1 The new notification summary feature on Apple Intelligence uses AI to "intelligently" summarize your notifications, so you can quickly scan through key details from your busiest apps. And while the feature works pretty well for summarizing long emails into succinct points, it doesn't always make sense with text messages. Apple Intelligence takes things too literally sometimes. The other day, I received several text messages about how bad a hike was and how that person felt "dead" (tired) after, along with some other sparse details. This is how Apple Intelligence summarized those few messages for me: This is a text about how a trainer "killed" my friend with a particular tough workout. Apple Intelligence, and more specifically the notification summaries feature, just doesn't do well with sarcasm, exaggerations, jokes and slang. And that's a problem, especially with how informal text messaging can be. There's even a subreddit with a ton of terrible notification summaries that people have received from Apple Intelligence. It takes everything at face value, which can lead to some pretty horrifying, incorrect or simply annoying summaries for text messages. Instead of stressing each time a disturbing summary appears, I disabled notification summaries for text messages. If you want to do the same, it's easy: In place of receiving condensed summaries of multiple text messages, you'll see every individual text message on your lock screen or notification center like usual. You could completely disable notification summaries (turn off Summarize Previews) for every single app on your phone, but as I mentioned earlier, it works pretty well for emails and third-party apps.