We have been hearing rumors, leaks, and details for weeks about how Apple is preparing to integrate new artificial intelligence features into iOS 18 and other operating systems. However, according to Bloomberg, some of these innovations will be offered as an optional and separate service, allowing more skeptical users to stay away and also serving as a communication strategy for Apple’s involvement in AI.
A service that Apple distances itself from, to a certain extent
As far as we know, iOS 18 will include two types of AI. On the one hand, there will be Apple’s AI, focused on very specific tasks and executed on the device. On the other hand, there will be the AI that is born from the agreement between Apple and OpenAI, which is expected to be officially announced next week. In anticipation of this agreement, there was considerable internal debate at Apple about the potential reputational damage that a “runaway chatbot” could cause, and indeed, some voices within the company expressed doubts about this integration.
According to Gurman, however, despite the concerns, Apple has decided to move forward with the project, but with an approach that will make it clear where Apple ends and OpenAI begins. By outsourcing the chatbot function, the company hopes to be able to distance itself from the inherent errors of this type of technology.
By offering part of iOS 18’s AI as a separate service, one that we must voluntarily sign up for, we can choose whether we want to use it or not. In fact, there may be people who are not even aware of its existence.
The strategy can remind us, for example, of Apple’s public beta program. There is the possibility of joining to test iOS 18 before anyone else, but we are dealing with unfinished software that has flaws. In this context, the fact that we have to register, sign up, and then proceed with the installation allows us to choose and, knowing what we are getting into, have the possibility to test the software or, in the case at hand, the new AI.
It is clear that AI at this WWDC is here to change things. A change that some of us have been waiting for months and that others do not see favorably. Knowing that generative AI makes mistakes, Apple’s decision to offer it as a separate service seems like a very wise approach. With the caution that defines the company, the choice will be ours: do we want to go slowly or dive directly into the AI pool?
