[imagesource:apple]

Apple had a whole bunch to share in its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

The Apple WWDC 2024 keynote revealed the first look at the AI features coming to Apple’s devices and some major updates across the company’s operating systems.

Among the many announcements, it seems Apple’s very own AI features are some of the biggest updates to get excited about, per The Verge.

It’s no surprise that Apple is launching an AI system of its own considering all the AI hype right now. The company’s new personal intelligence system is cleverly called Apple Intelligence, “that puts powerful generative models right at the core of your iPhone, iPad, and Mac”.

The system will be available for free on the iPhone 15 Pro as well as on iPads and Macs with an M1 chip, enabling a ton of new capabilities across Apple’s native apps, such as the ability to generate images or summarise text.

As usual, South Africans can consult with Digicape, South Africa’s largest independent Apple retailer, which offers a one-of-a-kind trade-in service. That means it is that much easier and more affordable to swap your old (new) iPhone in for a brand-spanking new iPhone that comes with all the updated AI features to keep you on the cutting edge.

Besides summarising emails and generating responses, the company showed off its new Genmoji feature, letting you create custom emoji based on a text prompt, along with a new AI image generator called Image Playground.

Image: Apple

Perhaps the most intriguing AI push is how Apple will give Siri a nice little glow-up. The new and improved voice assistant is getting more deeply integrated into the iPhone, showing up as a pulsating light on the edge of your device. You’ll have more control over your apps, being able to ask the assistant to find info in a specific email or even bring up a photo of a friend. Apple is using LLMs to help Siri better understand what you’re saying and keep track of any follow-up requests and questions.

Siri’s big AI upgrade also includes an integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. That means Siri will automatically figure out if a query is better suited for ChatGPT and will then ask for your permission before sending the request to the big AI tool. You’ll be able to use ChatGPT through Siri for free and without needing an account.

Apple is also launching Siri Interactions in its next AirPods Pro software update, letting you shake your head yes or no to respond to Siri’s announcements. The AirPods Pro are also getting Voice Isolation to enhance voice quality and reduce background noise.

Check out more about the biggest AI announcements from the Apple WWDC 2024:

The AI boom is happening whether we like it or not, so we might as well make it our friend.

[source:verge]