Is this another game-changer? At the end of WWDC 2024, Apple took out the big guns – it’s taken on AI. Based on an architecture combining on-device processing and private cloud solutions, Apple Intelligence will be launched for high-end Apple products. It will enter developer beta in 2024 and fully launch in 2025 (we hope that includes the EU):
Like other generative AI-powered assistants, you’ll be able to ask follow-up questions and interrupt yourself while making requests. Siri can now respond to requests via typed text if you don’t feel like making them out loud. You’ll also be able to ask Siri to use ChatGPT, rather than Apple’s own models to make requests. Apple says its updated version of Siri is more context-aware of Apple products, allowing you to ask questions about how different features and settings work and get accurate responses. Onscreen awareness will let Siri understand and take action about things on your screen. So, if a friend sends an address in Messages, you can have Siri save it for you. Daniel Howley
Yahoo! Finance
Apple’s AI promise: “Your data is never stored or made accessible to Apple”
And publicly reviewable server code means experts can "verify this privacy promise." Read the article onarstechnica.comA considerable part of the presentations was focused on privacy. Apple made big promises to newer store data:
Part of what Apple calls “a brand new standard for privacy and AI” is achieved through on-device processing. Federighi said “many” of Apple’s generative AI models can run entirely on a device powered by an A17+ or M-series chips, eliminating the risk of sending your personal data to a remote server. When a bigger, cloud-based model is needed to fulfil a generative AI request, though, Federighi stressed that it will “run on servers we’ve created especially using Apple silicon,” which allows for the use of security tools built into the Swift programming language. The Apple Intelligence system “sends only the data that’s relevant to completing your task” to those servers, Federighi said, rather than giving blanket access to the entirety of the contextual information the device has access to. Kyle Orland
Ars Technica
A PR disaster: Microsoft has lost trust with its users, and Windows Recall is the straw that broke the camel's back
The world is up-in-arms over Windows Recall. It stems from Microsoft's seeming lack of care for Windows and its users. Read the article onwindowscentral.comOn the other front…things could look better for Microsoft’s mission to integrate AI into Windows, as Copilot+ and Windows Recall aren’t exactly popular among users:
It’s a nightmare scenario for Microsoft. The headlining feature of its new Copilot+ PC initiative, which is supposed to drive millions of PC sales over the next couple of years, is under significant fire for being what many say is a major breach of privacy and security on Windows. That feature in question is Windows Recall, a new AI tool designed to remember everything you do on Windows. (…) In fact, Microsoft goes so far as to promise that it cannot see the data collected by Windows Recall, that it can’t train any of its AI models on your data, and that it definitely can’t sell that data to advertisers. All of this is true, but that doesn’t mean people believe Microsoft when it says these things. In fact, many have jumped to the conclusion that even if it’s true today, it won’t be true in the future. Zac Bowden
Windows Central
SoftBank’s new ‘emotion canceling’ AI turns customer screams into soft speech
The technology aims to reduce stress levels among call center operators by softening the tone of angry customers’ voices. Read the article oninterestingengineering.comEver worked in a call centre? Yeah, it’s not the greatest job in the world. But SoftBank is motivated to change that, by introducing “AI emotion cancelling”.
“We are working on the development of a solution that can convert the customer’s voice into a calm conversational tone and deliver it to our workers using AI-enabled emotion recognition and voice processing technology,” SoftBank said in a press release. The company’s press release emphasized the importance of maintaining good customer relationships while ensuring the psychological well-being of its workers. Aman Tripathi
Interesting Engineering
No more being screamed at – AI is here to the rescue!
