iPhone AI News Alerts Suspended Amidst Error Surge

Apple has halted a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that received backlash and complaints for producing consistent inaccuracies in its news headline summaries.

The tech behemoth had been under increasing pressure to retract the service, which issued notifications that seemed to originate from news organisations’ applications.

“We are enhancing the service and will implement improvements in a forthcoming software release,” stated an Apple representative.

The BBC was among those voicing their discontent, after a notification produced by Apple’s AI incorrectly informed some users that Luigi Mangione, the individual charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had taken his own life.

The feature had also misrepresented summary information from Sky News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, as per reports from journalists and others on social platforms.

Media organisations and press associations had urged the firm to retract the feature, cautioning that it was unprepared and that AI-generated inaccuracies were exacerbating concerns of misinformation and declining trust in journalism.

The BBC officially raised concerns with Apple in December, but did not receive a response until January when they promised a software upgrade that would elucidate the AI’s involvement in crafting the summaries, which were optional and limited to users with the latest iPhones.

This elicited a further barrage of criticism suggesting that the technology firm was not taking sufficient action.

Apple has now opted to completely deactivate the feature for news and entertainment applications.

“With the latest beta software versions of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily suspended,” disclosed an Apple spokesperson.

The firm stated that in the case of other applications, AI-generated alerts will utilize italicized text.

“We are glad that Apple has acknowledged our concerns and is halting the summarisation feature for news,” said a BBC representative.

“We anticipate collaborating with them productively on future actions. Our main focus is the accuracy of the news we provide to the public, which is crucial for establishing and maintaining trust.”

Apple had indicated that the feature, which was introduced to users in the UK in December, aimed to make customers’ experiences more efficient.

It consolidates and rephrases previews of several recent app notifications into a single alert on users’ lock screens.

This resolution comes as the company faces scrutiny to demonstrate its AI advancements, which investors hoped would ignite a new surge of demand for iPhones and other devices.

The company’s stock dropped by over 4% in trading on Thursday following reports of faltering sales in China.

Apple typically maintains a strong stance regarding its products and does not frequently evenrespond to criticism.

This straightforward remark from the tech giant conveys a significant amount about how detrimental the mistakes made by its highly promoted new AI functionality truly are.

Not only was it unintentionally disseminating false information by producing incorrect summaries of news articles, but it was also damaging the credibility of media organizations like the BBC, whose core asset is their reliability, by featuring deceptive headlines adjacent to their logos.

Certainly not an impressive appearance for a recently launched service.

AI creators have consistently noted that the technology has a propensity to “hallucinate” (fabricate details), and AI chatbots consistently include disclaimers advising that the information they deliver should be verified.

However, there is a growing tendency to prioritize AI-generated content – including summary representations at the forefront of search engines – and that alone suggests it is trustworthy.

Even Apple, despite all the financial resources and expertise it can dedicate to tech development, has now publicly demonstrated that this is not yet the reality.

It’s also intriguing that the most recent mistake, which occurred prior to Apple’s shift in strategy, was an AI summary of content from the Washington Post, as indicated by their technology writer Geoffrey A Fowler.

The news organization is owned by an individual well-known to Apple CEO Tim Cook – Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.