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Apple’s keynote at its annual World Wide Developers Conference unveiled new and long-awaited artificial intelligence advances, including upgrades to its Siri assistant.
It was also the last one to be held by CEO Tim Cook before he turns his post over to John Ternus in September.
Cook received an extended standing ovation and told the audience he is “deeply grateful to have been on this journey with you” and said “the energy around Apple platforms has never been stronger.”
Here are the key takeaways from the event.
The new Siri AI
The new Siri, which Apple is calling Siri AI, will be available on Apple devices and will analyse what is on a user’s screen and incorporate information from a person’s Apple devices to better answer questions.
Apple emphasised a focus on privacy and day-to-day use as the iPhone maker tries to catch up to rivals when it comes to AI.
It will be available both in a standalone app and throughout the company’s software, and Apple plans to launchSiri AI in beta later this year.
Apple said Siri is now a “much more capable assistant” that can help users find what they need and get things done across various Apple devices.
For instance, it can create a menu and gather recipes from the web or from your own text messages for a World Cup viewing party and invite friends from a group chat.
Siri mode on your camera, meanwhile, can tell you what you are looking at and give you relevant information, such as the nutritional details of a plate of food.
Siri’s visual intelligence also works with images on your screen. For example, it can tell you whether a backpack you are thinking of getting will work as a carry-on for a flight or whether a pair of bulky hiking boots will fit inside it.
Apple focuses on helpful AI
Apple software chief Craig Federighi took some swipes at AI companies — without naming them — that seem to be “pursuing AI for the sake of AI” without clear regard for the people it is supposed to serve.
At Apple, he said, “we believe that truly helpful AI should be centred around you and your needs,” which means integrating AI into the products people use every day while prioritising privacy.
Apple is partnering with Google on the models that will power its new Siri and other features.
Apple also announced improvements to its popular AI photo editing tools, including spatial reframing that lets you adjust how a photo is framed after it was taken — as if you had moved the camera to a better position while you were snapping the picture.
Apple’s announcement follows Google’s and OpenAI’s launches of tools that allow users to incorporate photos and other media into AI queries.
A standalone Siri AI app will launch later this year, though Apple said it will not initially be available in Europe and it won’t be available in China while the company works out regulatory issues.
Tim Cook’s last WWDC
Cook announced his retirement in April, ending a 15-year run that saw the company’s market value soar by more than $4 trillion (€3.47tn) during an iPhone-fueled era of prosperity.
Ternus has been with Apple for the past quarter century, including the past five years overseeing the engineering underlying the iPhone, iPad and Mac — a role that made him a prime candidate to succeed Cook.
Ternus did not take the main stage during Monday’s event.
The transition to a new CEO comes at a pivotal time for Apple. Artificial intelligence has proved the most disruptive force in the technology industry since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007 — and Apple, the company he built, has been slow to keep up.
The firm stumbled in its efforts to deliver AI features it promised nearly two years ago, and has yet to fully recover lost ground. Cook called his time at Apple “the honour of a lifetime.”
“I truly believe the best is still ahead.”