Apple removed a new iPhone feature launched just three months ago after users criticized it for spreading misinformation.
The tech giant removed its AI notification summaries for news and entertainment apps after the system falsely reported a news article.
the summary from the BBC article suggested that luigi glutton26-year-old, the alleged killer of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, had shot himself.
It said: ‘Luigi Mangione shoots himself; Syrian mother hopes Assad pays the price; South Korean police raid Yoon Suk Yeol’s office, in reference to three articles that had allegedly been published by the BBC.
Mangione has been accused of shooting Brian Thompson, 50, at point-blank range as he walked to a Manhattan lodge where his company was holding an investor conference on December 4. He is currently being held in a federal prison in Brooklyn.
Apple said it is disabling the AI-generated feature for news and entertainment as it tries to fix the problem that causes the technology to fabricate information, a problem often described as “hallucinations” within the industry.
Entertainment and news apps now display a message stating that AI-powered summaries are “temporarily unavailable” within the iPhone Settings app.
The feature was removed in the iOS 18.3 beta software, but the update is said to be rolling out to everyone by the end of the month. Even if it’s only temporary, the suspension represents a blow to Apple’s efforts to bring AI to the iPhone and its other products.
The British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) filed a complaint with Apple after the tech giant’s AI generated a false headline claiming that Luigi Mangione shot himself.
The notice read: ‘Luigi Mangione shoots himself; Syrian mother hopes Assad pays the price; South Korean police raid Yoon Suk Yeol’s office, in reference to three articles that had allegedly been published by the BBC
Apple Intelligence launched on October 28, 2024, releasing new technologies for the iPhone 15 Professional models and the iPhone 16 family.
The tech giant billed Apple Intelligence as “the personal intelligence system that combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver intelligence.”
To put it more simply, it’s a general term for all the jobs that AI can do on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac computer, as long as you have the latest iOS 18 software and a very important AI chip inside the device.
Within the technology are AI writing tools that write, correct and summarize text in multiple applications, including news applications.
The decision to remove the feature was revealed on Thursday as part of a test build for the next version of the software, iOS 18.3.
The beta version is only available to a relatively small group of iPhone users and developers, but the same features are usually released in an update available to all users several weeks after testing begins.
After identifying the error, a BBC spokesperson contacted Apple “to raise this concern and resolve the issue,” according to the broadcaster.
The BBC noted that this is not the first time Apple Intelligence has provided misleading summaries of news articles.
The New York Times suffered a comparable error in November. AI grouped three articles into a single notification, and the first part said “Netanyahu arrested.”
The notification summaries feature will also summarize texts, sometimes with alarming inaccuracy.
On November 21, the New York Times made a comparable mistake.
AI grouped three articles into one notification, and the first part said “Netanyahu arrested,” referring to the Israeli prime minister.
The prime minister has not been arrested, nor was the newspaper incorrectly reporting that he was.
Errors appear to be relatively widespread.
Apple Intelligence launched on October 28, 2024, releasing new technologies for the iPhone 15 Professional models and the iPhone 16 family.
Numerous iPhone users have shared screenshots of notification summaries that are inaccurate and sometimes absurd.
“Big fan of the Apple Intelligence summary feature, mainly because it turns every boring notification you wouldn’t previously read into a cute little mystery to unravel,” one X user posted with a screenshot of an Apple Information summary.
The summary notice said: ‘Loving salmon may not be a good idea; Polar bears have returned to Britain.
This feature not only summarizes news articles. It can also summarize your messages, sometimes with alarming inaccuracy.
Another X user posted a screenshot of Apple Intelligence’s attempt to summarize a text message from his mother.
It said, “He tried to commit suicide, but recovered and walked through Redlands and Palm Springs,” when the actual message apparently said, “That walk almost killed me!”
These screenshots are unverified, but are among many other reports of similar issues with the Apple Intelligence feature. While it may be easy to laugh at some of them, there are dangers associated with misreporting facts in this way.
Professor Petros Iosifidis, professor of media policy at London’s Metropolis College, told BBC Information that this type of feature has potential advantages, “but the technology is not yet available and there is a current danger of spreading disinformation.”
“I can see that pressure will hit the market first, but I’m surprised that Apple put its name on such a clearly half-baked product,” he said.
An Apple spokesperson noted that Apple is working to fix software issues that will be seen in a possible update, but did not specify when the update will be.
