Apple pauses AI news summaries after a backlash for generating false alerts
Apple is working on improvements to bring back Notification Summaries in a future update.
In the AI race, Apple is facing a challenge as it strives to keep pace, encountering a backlash against its recent AI advancements. After introducing Apple Intelligence, the Silicon Valley giant rolled out the Notification summaries feature in iOS 18.2, providing users with a summary of the news in short alerts. However, this feature failed to win over users, compounded by instances of providing inaccurate alerts from news and entertainment apps. Apple acknowledges this issue and pauses it for the users, in the new iOS 18.3 beta.
This change comes after numerous reports about the falsely generated alerts, including the recent complaint by BBC to Apple for misrepresenting its article, that Luigi Mangione, who was arrested for the murder case of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had committed suicide. This was not only an isolated incident, another article from the same news outlet got under Apple Intelligence's Notification summaries false alerts and declared the win of Luke Littler in the dart final before the match was held.
As quoted in an article by the BBC, an Apple spokesperson said, “With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, for the News & Entertainment category. Notification summaries will be temporarily unavailable".
What other changes does the iOS 18.3 beta bring to Notification Summaries?
Apple also changed the design of the notification alerts generated by AI Summaries and introduced a new italicized text for the AI alerts. This move is a big step towards ensuring differentiation between AI-generated alerts and other notification alerts. iOS 18.3 beta also now displays a label that informs users that AI summaries may contain errors.
Users are also concerned about disabling AI notification alerts. In the latest iOS 18.3 beta, Apple has addressed this question and lets you easily disable AI alerts for any app directly from the lock screen or by going to the Notification Center.
The Future of Apple Intelligence
The future of Apple Intelligence depends entirely on the company's vision and how it aligns with user needs and ongoing trends in this digital world. The silicon giant also needs to ensure that its AI approach meets Digital Markets Act (DMA) standards, which will allow the company to showcase its AI development to more consumers around the world. In the recent past, Apple withdrew iPhone mirroring, Share Play screen sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence from EU users in 2024.
Overall, this new step by Apple shows its commitment to user experience and data integrity. This step has been taken to ensure that users get more precise and accurate summary alerts that should not contain any errors.
What do you think of Apple's notification summaries? Let me know how you rate the recent steps taken by Apple to ensure accuracy. Share your opinion in the comments below.