Apple Revamps AI Alerts Following Misleading News Outrage

Apple has announced plans to enhance an AI feature that has produced erroneous news alerts on its most recent iPhones, such as mistakenly reporting that a man charged with the murder of a US insurance executive had taken his own life and that tennis icon Rafael Nadal had declared his sexuality.

The tech firm stated it is working on a software upgrade that would “more clearly” indicate when news notifications are in fact summaries generated by the company’s Apple Intelligence system. Expected timelines suggest that the update will be launched in the upcoming weeks.

This comes after a formal grievance by the BBC last month, when news alerts bearing the corporation’s branding informed certain iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Mangione is alive and is currently detained in a facility in Brooklyn.

Incorrect news alerts were disseminated once again on the previous Friday, when Apple’s AI system inaccurately summarized BBC app notifications to claim that Nadal had come out as gay. The summaries also falsely stated that Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts Championship hours before the event took place.

“These AI summaries by Apple do not accurately represent – and in some instances completely contradict – the original content from the BBC,” the BBC expressed. “It is crucial that Apple promptly resolves these matters as the reliability of our news is vital in sustaining trust.”

The malfunctioning feature was among the AI tools provided to users of certain newer iPhones in December, including the iPhone 16, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max models, as well as on select iPads and Macs.

“Features of Apple Intelligence are currently in beta and we are consistently enhancing them with input from user feedback,” Apple declared in a statement to the BBC.

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“A software update in the forthcoming weeks will further define when the displayed text is a summary provided by Apple Intelligence. We urge users to report any concerns should they encounter an unexpected notification summary,” Apple concluded.