The Future of Apple Intelligence

Apple's announcement of Artificial Intelligence features in their iOS and MacOS operating systems at WWDC this year signaled their unique technological perspective. Instead of dazzling users with cutting-edge features, they identified specific elements of generative AI that haven't achieved product-market fit   and built compelling user experiences around them. Apple's greatest strength is delighting users by finding creative ways to turn technology into an effective product, but its rollout strategy fails to take advantage of its main competitive differentiator.

Apple is the only company I will allow to have my personal data. It isn't because I trust them—it's because Apple's current business strategy doesn't provide a financial incentive to share my information. I wouldn't dream of adding pages of personal information to GhatGPT in a prompt. OpenAI is an immature, volatile company under pressure from activist investors to monetize everything they can.

I was excited when Craig Federighi emphasized on-device processing and later unveiled Private Cloud Compute—a secure way to offload more computationally intensive requests to a data center—as it signaled Apple was playing to their strengths. Apple has all of my data: contacts, notes, reminders, appointments, and text messages. They know when I go to sleep, how I've slept, and when I wake up. Every aspect of my daily routine, including when and where I go, is in a massive database about me. Why haven't any of the Apple Intelligence features released in iOS 18.1 or 18.2 taken advantage of this information?

Why don't Siri Suggestions in Messages sound like I wrote them? I've been using Messages for over a decade, surely enough data exists to replicate my unique voice. Why hasn't Siri become my personal assistant, surfacing the right information at the right time based on my past behavior? Why can't I receive personal insights into how I can improve the efficiency of my schedule? In short, why isn't Apple Intelligence helping me become a happier, more productive person when all of the requisite technological framework exists?

Perhaps Apple is iterating its way toward this goal, but it isn't adequately signaling the future it envisions. As Apple continues to expand its AI capabilities, it must leverage the wealth of user data it already has to truly enhance personalized experiences. The company's cautious approach to data privacy has won them loyalty, but this very asset—deep user trust—could also be the key to transforming their AI from functional to indispensable. Now is the time for Apple to double down on its unique strengths—delivering privacy-conscious, contextually aware intelligence that doesn't just react to commands but anticipates needs. This would not only secure Apple's leadership in the AI space but also set a new standard for how technology can enrich our lives.

The Meaning of Art

Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in the Fall of 2022, the concept of "AI art" has bothered me. I couldn't quite understand why, but I knew it rubbed me the wrong way. After much thought, I now understand why I do not consider AI-generated content art.

My fundamental apprehension in AI-generated art isn't the quality – it's that it fails to address the purpose of art. Art speaks to the infinite depths of the human experience, the endless color palette of our emotions, our greatest fears, and our inexhaustible aspirations. Art communicates an idea. The creation of art is often a long journey of self-reflection. Art is as much a cathartic learning experience for the artist as it is an intellectual journey for the viewer. Short-circuiting the creation process with artificial intelligence gives us no more significant insights. We've learned nothing from the process, and our ability to learn and grow from the experience has been taken from us.

Art is a uniquely human experience. When Vladimir Horowitz returned to his home country of Moscow in 1986, it was the 81-year-old pianist's first recital in the Soviet Union since he left his homeland 61 years ago to make a career in the West. He was well past his prime, yet many in the audience cried unabashedly during portions of the recital. Horowitz returned on stage for six curtain calls after he had played three encores. Listen to his interpretation of Liszt's Deuxième Année V; Sonnette 104 del Petarca or Scriabin's Etude Op. 8, No. 10. It is the sound of a man who has lived a full life, who is openly struggling in front of the audience, proof that youth is an aberration and wisdom only comes with time. Unfortunately, that hard-earned wisdom almost always comes too late to be fully realized by unencumbered virtuosity. This performance is a reflection of the complexities and ironies of life. It has taken on a deeper meaning than the notes on the page.

Wladyslaw Szpilman spent the last 56 years of his life without family after they were all murdered by Nazis in World War II. Though a simple piece, Chopin's Nocturne C sharp-minor takes on a haunting, melancholy atmosphere under Mr. Szpilman's fingers.

These small fragments of beauty, sparkling against the dark backdrop of an otherwise ugly world, can never be replicated by artificial intelligence. Art is a uniquely human celebration of ambition, resilience, and creativity that artificial intelligence can never match.