AI: 'Apple Intelligence'is now 'AI'. RTZ #384

...Trustworthy, Private & Secure, for over two billion plus mainstream Apple ecosystem users soon

Years from now, as the early history of this AI Tech Wave is being told, today’s reframing of LLM AI by Apple as ‘Apple Intelligence’, may be a prime exhibit of how AI was made mainstream by Apple.

At a time when most mainstream folks fear the role of AI in our lives to come, Apple reminded everyone today at WWDC 2024, that only they have always practiced what they’ve preached vs their technology peers: prioritizing user privacy and trust.

It’s something that I’ve highlighted in recent posts, both this Sunday and over a week ago, as we all waited for Apple to play their ‘AI hand’. And they played it very well.

As the Information recounts in “Apple’s Tech Master Class”:

“Apple just delivered a master class in how to explain complex technology to ordinary people. Its presentation on Monday of how it will harness the latest artificial intelligence advances in its software was well done, to say the least. If you’ve been wondering exactly what AI can do—other than overhyped exercises such as designing a menu for a dinner party—you will now know. These are not world-changing advances, to be sure. They include using Siri to check on the status of a flight—the digital assistant can cross-check flight details contained in an email with flight updates from the Web—or to search across apps to find a piece of information stored somewhere you can’t remember. “

For a full take on all the AI and other things that Apple announced today, these write-ups will provide a great rundown with context. Or of course watch the Keynote itself.

As the WSJ’s Joanne Stern summarizes,

“A bunch of AI features are coming to iOS 18, iPadOS18 and MacOS Sequoia in the fall.”

And most users will benefit upgrading to the latest iPhones and other Mac devices, to make sure their hardware has the latest AI chips in the form of Apple Silicon to give them the best of the bottom-up features across the Apple ecosystem of applications and services. Unified across all their operating systems. Trusting Apple’s Privacy & Security across Apple devices and services:

In fact, as one watches the keynote, product after product and all the features, it starts to sink in the key message Apple is subliminally emphasizing:

No one else can provide AI across these devices, operating systems, applications and services.

Not even the exemplars of AI today, that investors and the media have been talking abut for almost two years after OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Oh, and as expected, OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be available, as expected, as an ‘opt-in’ service within the ‘Apple Experience’. Providing ‘Apple Intelligence’ the Apple Way. And they left the door open to have other LLM AI models (Google Gemini AI?) have on-ramps from ‘Apple Intelligence’ as well.

And Apple is also redefining the relationship between AI in the clouds and Apple Intelligence on its device with a laser focus on trust and privacy, with Apple’s ‘Private Cloud Compute’ as its intermediary between Apple Intelligence and ‘AI” as practiced by everyone else. It’s technically complex, and Apple’s approach here is relatively unique.

I’ll have a lot more on Apple’s emerging AI strategy and differentiated approach to ‘Apple Intelligence’ in future posts.

For now, regardless of whether the stock goes down or up in the short term, and regardless of all the discussion of Apple being ‘behind the AI curve’, keep in mind one reality. Apple’s doing what they do best, come from behind with new technologies, when they’re good and ready. The Apple Way. Stay tuned.

(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)