What's the big fuss about Apple integrating ChatGPT?

After Apple announced plans to integrate generative artificial intelligence into its software and devices like the iPhone, one of the company’s original founders, Steve Wozniak, spoke for many observers when he told Bloomberg: “I have my own AI – actual intelligence.” He cautioned that the success of any such technology should be judged by the humans experiencing it rather than its marketed capabilities.

These comments from Mr Wozniak, who is no longer with the company he started with the late Steve Jobs, came amid a predictably mixed reaction following the launch of Apple Intelligence at the Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California this week. In particular, to the news that Apple will work with OpenAI to integrate its generative AI technology, ChatGPT, into virtual assistant Siri later this year.

Elon Musk, for example, came out swinging. “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation,” Mr Musk said on his social media platform X. The Tesla chief executive said that visitors “will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage”.

“Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river,” he wrote on X.

Mr Musk has a turbulent and well-documented history with OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, and having once backed the company, he has now started his own AI startup to compete. However, while it is useful politically to cry about security to hamstring rivals, security is indeed a major concern when it comes to the use of AI. TikTok is under attack on security grounds.

Blackberry and its maker, Rim, were brought low by similar accusations.

Ultimately, once a technology company has been called out as a security risk, it is a very difficult label to overcome. This is partly because most people assume that there is no smoke without fire. So, no one on the political spectrum wants to be publicly associated with the issue and the list of potential allies thins out quickly. Sometimes, though, a smokescreen is just that.

When it comes to AI, privacy might be the more apt consideration than security. Here, Apple’s track record is a little contradictory. It has, on the one hand, used its smartphone dominance to hold third parties at arm’s length, while at the same time convincing us that handing over all our data to Apple is totally up to us. During the same period, it has built up its own advertising strength as a result.

To an extent, Apple Intelligence expands its influence by also creating a narrative of user empowerment around AI.

The idea is that the AI on your iPhone or laptop will use your own personal data, accessed from your devices to try to make your life easier, and do everyday tasks for you through what is called personal cloud technology, powered by the chip and hardware in your hands.

In addition, you will have the choice to access ChatGPT directly through Apple’s software. Right now, if you use any of the models on the market, such as ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, they access the large trove of global information available on their cloud network infrastructure, and your requests and prompts go there too.

Part of the promise is that Apple Intelligence will be far quicker and much more personalised as a result of its closer proximity. Mr Wozniak said he was impressed with the demos on show at the conference, but he added that the real test will come when users are able to try it out themselves in more mundane circumstances.

Taking a step back, however, no matter how good it proves to be, this is not a ground-breaking moment for AI technology or society at large.

First, the AI-powered features that will be on offer on Apple devices, from call transcription to email summaries to an upgraded Siri, are already out there. Using AI now, at its current capabilities, is actually really helpful but in limited situations. It is only a matter of time before we find it irreplaceable in our lives – like our phones have become – but we are some way away from that happening.

The idea of having Apple Intelligence on your phone sounds like having the equivalent of a young intern in the office, desperate to impress by offering to do things for you, that you know in the end will only make more work for you, but you feel bad if you don’t let them do it.

That’s a harsh judgment, no doubt, and I have nothing against interns in general. But in terms of game-changing tech, we are in Apple Watch territory with Apple Intelligence rather than the iPod or iPhone.

The launch also tells us more about the maturity of the smart mobile device market than anything else, with the pace of the growth of sales slowing since the Covid-19 pandemic. The push to integrate AI into mobile devices by their makers is as much about creating fresh momentum for revenue as anything else.