Apple would like to offer, with iOS 18, artificial intelligence features working locally on the iPhone, in order to limit the collection of personal data.
Apple ensures that privacy is at the heart of its various products and services. The manufacturer makes a point of limiting the collection of data carried out by its own applications, but also by third-party software, which is not necessarily to the taste of tech giants like Meta. The arrival of artificial intelligence, however, poses a challenge for the Cupertino manufacturer. Language models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, rely on servers to process operations and send a quick response to users. Apple would seek to “do things differently”, with a clean language model that works locally on its next devices.
Apple would bet on limited and processed functionalities on the device
Overtaken by Microsoft and Google, Apple would like to accelerate this year in the field of artificial intelligence. The next version of the iPhone operating system, iOS 18, should therefore offer several features linked to AI, integrated into the brand’s in-house services. Apple has also been developing its own language model, Ajax, for several years.
Mark Gruman, Bloomberg, tells us these days that Apple would not wish to deny its main principles, and would offer artificial intelligence services operating locally on the iPhone. Instead of using remote servers, the brand’s processors would be used to provide a quick and consistent response to users, without passing on their requests or their personal information.
Local use would also avoid the sometimes eccentric answers obtained from the web and the source of many controversies. The functionalities permitted today by on-device processing are certainly more limited, but avoid the problems encountered by ChatGPT or Gemini, with irrelevant, poorly sourced or inconsistent information.
A late but cautious arrival from Apple in the field of generative AI
According to Mark Gurman, iOS 18 would only integrate limited functionalities in terms of artificial intelligence. We can expect additions in Messages, to make it easier to compose messages, but also in Siri to make the voice assistant more useful on a daily basis, as well as the internal search engine. Photos could also benefit from advanced editing tools.
If work on Ajax advances, Apple would be aware of its delay and would negotiate in parallel with OpenAI and Google, to use their language models in iOS. Rumor had it that the manufacturer was having serious discussions with the search engine for the integration of Gemini, but nothing has yet been confirmed at this stage, and an arrival in iOS 18 seems compromised today.
By focusing on its language model, and with only local use, Apple could advance its pawns and convince its users, without compromising on its main principles relating to the confidentiality of its customers’ data.
Source : Apple Insider
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