It has been a year since Apple introduced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024. Back then, I was cautiously optimistic that Apple’s approach of integrating artificial intelligence into its operating systems and apps would feel fresh and relevant (see “Examining Apple Intelligence,” 17 June 2024). However, as the actual features slowly rolled out across several updates, I found them to be underwhelming. The most compelling one—an LLM-enhanced version of Siri that could understand personal context and control numerous apps—was eventually pushed into the indefinite future.
Discourse doesn’t support the type of poll I want to conduct here, so I’m using Google Forms instead. Please respond with “Haven’t Used It” if Apple Intelligence cannot run on your device, if you have turned it off, or if you’re unaware of the feature. Select “No impact” if you can use Apple Intelligence, have it turned on, and have tried the feature, but find no utility in it.
After filling out the form it clarified just how far from the target audience I appear to be. Most of the AI ‘features’ I haven’t tried - typically because I see no value in them. Genmoji, good grief…
For me, the only thing which has made a tiny impact is clean up in photos. I’ve probably used it five or six times in total. I used the writing tools a couple of times when it first arrived but not since. It was OK but hardly impactful.
When I upgraded last September, I opted for an iPhone 15. As well as a lower price point, than the 16, there was no AI possible. While I have used AI in my job when analysing data, I didn’t feel it was something useful to have in my pocket.
I have to admit that found a great use of clean-up in Photos that I hadn’t previously considered. (and I’m against using it for everyday photo-memories.)
In preparing a 50th anniversary of a world record at a tennis club I had to copy a B&W print which had a horrible smudge-mark above a person’s head.
The background was out of focus foliage and within a second or two it removed the smudge perfectly. I could have done this in Photoshop but it would have taken some time to do it well.
So that time saving was much appreciated! I serious recommend using it for cleaning up damaged prints you need to copy.
I basically ticked only casual use of Writing Tools on my Mac. I’d use it more if there were a decent interface to diff and accept/reject in an itemized way. Alas there isn’t. So my Writing Tools use remains unfortunately very limited.
None of the other Apple Intelligence is attractive to me (so far at least). I’m anxious one day being able to do something like “Hey Siri, what is my setting for automated update downloads?” or “Hey Siri, open a new Safari tab for MLB.com and hit the standings link, then scroll to the MLB West section.” I have a not so great feeling we’re still quite a way from getting that. Were I Tim, that’s where my effort would go (productivity), not this genmoji garbage (eye candy).
Early results suggest that we are REALLY not using Apple Intelligence or finding much value in it. So far, the only features that have a higher Some Impact column than No Impact are:
Clean Up in Photos
Descriptive searches in Photos
ChatGPT integration in Siri
And in each case, by far the most common answer is “Haven’t used it.”
I haven’t turned AAI on (iPhone 15P). However, I have found the Photo app’s CleanUp functionality to be quite useful. It’s available even without AAI being enabled.
I basically don’t use it and the one feature I noticed (mail categories) I turned off pretty quickly. I have used AI though - I use Perplexity rather than Google/DuckDuckGo search now with very good results.
I’m an inveterate “try-er,” so I have either casually swiped at all of those features or am hallucinating that I have. (Hey, if AI LLMs can do it, so can I. So there!)
The Writing Tools feature is of no use to me, for reasons I’ve posted previously.
The Mail categorization feature spectacularly does the opposite of what it’s intended to do: it gets in the way of me scanning my inbox and deciding which messages need to be read first. After each iOS update, when Mail on my phone once again has the feature switched on, I stare for a moment at three (just three?) “priority” messages and realize my Inbox has been whisked off my desk by a too-helpful assistant.
The others seem like toys or placeholders.
I am not writing off Apple Intelligence, but this iteration seems like pretty weak tea. I remain hopeful that Apple will someday figure out how to make the technology useful, non-creepy, and compelling.
I have tried enough AI to discover its limited use (transcribing audio if you check it for errors) and serious limits (every connection Ancestry AI has suggested that I checked was wrong), I have no particular interest in seeing what kind of mistakes Apple Intelligence can make. I would never trust AI with categorizing my email after seeing the damage Google Categories and a badly designed (probably involving AI) a bad spam filter can do.
Since upgrading to 15.5 Mail has an annoying new “feature” where when you are replying to someone it tries to suggest some words and you can’t continue typing without pressing ESC first. This is on my MBP. How do we turn that off?
I’m afraid the only way to get rid of that would be to turn off Apple Intelligence altogether.
It’s truly annoying that there is no more granular setting. I might want to use Writing Tools every once in a while, but that does not mean I also want some dumb bot to try to auto reply to my professional email.
I’m afraid that’s typical ChatGPT garbage (or in newspeak: “hallucinations”). That setting has always been off here and nevertheless, ever since 15.5 I’ve been getting these inline suggestions. The only way I can turn them off is to turn off Apple Intelligence entirely.
I only have old phones, but on my Macs I have shut off Apple Intelligence. If I want something that tells me things that might be wrong that I then have to double check to see if they’re correct, I’ll talk to the nearest toddler. It doesn’t save time, it makes things take longer since I could just go figure out the answer for myself instead of verifying dubious info fed to me by fancy autocomplete.
Adam didn’t break out Writing Tools: a professional writer I would never use the “rewrite” ones, but I do use Proofreading and find it very helpful. It catches spelling errors a spelling checker won’t (like homonyms), as well as missing or duplicate words and other grammar errors. Summarize and Key Points I’ve played with and found occasionally useful.
I’ve started using ChatGPT via Siri quite often. Mostly I use it when I’m driving and I think of something I want to know and I can’t search the 'net myself right then. At first I was skeptical of the answers I got, but I’ve become impressed with how it well it works.
For example, the other day I was driving with a passenger and I came to a stoplight with a red right turn arrow. Many cars were pausing and turning as though it were an ordinary red light. My passenger and I got into a debate over whether this was legal. So on a whim I asked ChatGPT to settle our argument. I am in Oregon where right on red is legal. ChatPGT said that in Oregon you can treat a red right arrow the same as a red light. (You stop and then turn if safe.)
I was skeptical of this. Since it mentioned that the rules in other states varied, I asked it about California, where I used to live. Sure enough, in California you are not allowed to turn right on a red arrow. It is not the same as a red light there. That’s probably where I learned that.
This was confusing enough I searched the internet when I got home and confirmed both answers with actual DMV website driving rules information. I was impressed that ChatGPT got such a complex question correct!
I don’t think Apple Intelligence is an all-or-nothing situation. Everyone will have some things like they use and others they don’t. If most people have one or two that become indispensable, Apple will be successful with it. It’s still early days (less than a year). I’m not that worried that not everyone uses it or finds it valuable. If, a few years down the road, it is still relatively useless or people are actively avoiding it (for whatever reason), then Apple could have problem.
I would definitely love a better Siri and more integration with my own data so I could ask it queries about my own stuff (like did that thing I remember come in an email, website, or text message).
