You can't swing a metaphorical cat in a virtual room without a tech-savvy person insisting on AI. And over the last year or so, interest in AI has skyrocketed thanks to the rise of generative AI; For the uninitiated, these are smart algorithms and modes that can basically create things from various commands and inputs rather than acting as a smart assistant.
As such, we saw the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro put some effort into generative AI, specifically with its Magic Editor and smart features that can practically handle calls for you. Samsung then followed suit with the Galaxy S24 series, where the fancy Circle to Search AI feature made its debut. Google I/O was a feast of AI announcements and forward-thinking, with Gemini AI in the spotlight.
That leads me to think, what will Apple do with AI and generative AI at WWDC 2024? The Cupertino team is sure to talk about AI, as we've seen it emerge with the launch of the new iPad Air and iPad Pro OLED models, both featuring the M4 chip that has been designed to run AI workloads.
But will it also delve into generative AI in the same vein as Google? That's a more complicated question to answer; Not that I can answer it, since Apple is very secretive about almost everything, so this is all educated speculation. However, I would place a strong bet that Apple will indeed make a breakthrough in AI, but it will do so in a slightly different way to its rival; “He will think differently” if you allow the ironic joke.
Hassle-free and consumer-focused
While Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is, as its name suggests, a developer-focused showcase, it's also clearly consumer-tinged. Ultimately, all ads have Apple end users in mind, which means people like you and me, and creative types who use MacBooks in fancy coffee shops.
By this I mean that generative AI tools will integrate seamlessly into Apple platforms. I'm thinking that agendas develop automatically and appear in your iPhone notifications as the AI technology examines your calendar and emails, with your permission, of course. Ingenious automatic editing for videos and photos that transforms mediocre shots into something more presentable with the touch of a button, or even offers real-time suggestions.
Smart fitness features that can personalize training and diet plans for you through data pulled from your iPhone and Apple Watch sensors. Smart playlists created on the fly in Apple Music using a simple “make me a playlist for a summer party” directive. Automatically generated summaries of meetings, calls, presentations, or even the latest Apple TV Plus show. And smarter searches, web page summaries, and information that appears in Safari and in iOS 18 and macOS.
Additionally, we can expect a big AI update for Siri. Not only has the idea been rumored that Apple's virtual assistant could take advantage of ChatGPT, but Siri is arguably the dummy of virtual assistants compared to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so it's long overdue. a dose of new intelligence. .
The general idea here is that Apple will surely make generative AI tools feel more like part of the experience of using an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or Apple Watch rather than having features that you have to actively search for or enable, something that arguably be the case with the aforementioned Pixel and Galaxy phones.
And I think that's the key to getting the general public interested in using AI in a holistic way. It'll be about making it feel natural and useful rather than a nice-to-have or an “oh, that's cool” feature that's only used once.
I think about this in the context of the iPhone 15 Pro's action button: at first, it seemed a little useless given its limited reach, but once I set it up to activate the flashlight feature in iOS, it became something I use without thinking. Apple's ability to create new features that might seem a little “meh” to suddenly be useful and easy to use is something many other tech brands could continue to learn from.
Go alone or as a couple?
The other question about Apple and AI at WWDC 2024 is whether Apple will use internal AI models or partner with third-party generative AI developers.
Apple is no stranger to AI, as machine learning technology has been used for several iPhone generations to help deliver the best photos with the phone. But the best generative AI technology will almost certainly need multi-modal models (where data can be collected from multiple sources and sensors and then processed together), which could cause Apple to step out of its walled garden and look for help.
It has been suggested that such help will come from OpenAI and its ChatGPT models, although there have also been some murmurs that Apple could turn to Google's Gemini AI.
It is common practice to see Apple as the company that does its own thing. But I can see him joining forces with one of the big players in AI to leverage trained AI models while providing the customer experience and hardware that is so attractive to millions of people around the world.
Ultimately, this is all reflection on my part based on nearly a decade of work in tech journalism, so I could be completely wrong about how Apple approaches AI and the push for WWDC this year. But I trust my predictions and think this will be a conference worth watching.
Speaking of which, if you want to watch the keynote live, check out our guide on how to watch WWDC 2024. Likewise, if you want the latest news from WWDC, including previous rumors, you're in the right place – TechRadar will also be attending to the conference, so be sure to check back here for more news, opinion and analysis.
