最終,蘋果萬眾期待的AI發布可以說是非常之有蘋果味。隨著蘋果最終發布Apple Intelligence(可謂是做到了品牌調性與該技術本身首字母的完美結合),似乎人人都領略了這家科技巨頭蘋果標缺失部分的美味。蘋果首席執行官蒂姆·庫克稱該技術將彰顯“個性、強大與隱私”,而且將全面地嵌入蘋果的應用和硬件生態系統。
當然,蘋果一直是一個密不透風的“圍墻花園”,在提供周密安全舉措的同時也為用戶設置了大量的限制,因此Apple Intelligence也不例外。然而,正是因為蘋果生態中用戶的個性化環境,再加上強大的生成式人工智能,Apple Intelligence成為了或許只有蘋果公司才能真正實現的技術。
在生成式人工智能前沿領域,蘋果一直都不是第一,而且連邊都靠不上,但該公司卻押注了另一條賽道:“為普羅大眾而生”的人工智能,也就是面向那些對模型、接口、數據組、圖形處理器、設備、通用人工智能并不在意的數十億用戶??萍夹袠I將這些人稱之為“普通人”,他們想要的只是易用、實用、能保護隱私而且真正好用的人工智能。
蘋果高管們承諾在iPhone、iPad和Mac OS設備上推出的功能清單十分冗長。Siri將獲得升級,以變得“自然,更符合語境,以及更個性化?!比绻鸖iri自己無法回答問題,那么它將詢問用戶是否可以求助ChatGPT(得益于蘋果與OpenAI達成的新交易),而且Siri將擁有“屏幕顯示內容理解能力”,最終讓Siri對各大應用的用戶內容做出更具類智能體特性的響應。
iOS 18、iPadOS 18和macOS Sequoia都將推出新的全系統寫作工具,同時AI也將采用新的方式來幫助確定各事項(從消息一直到通知)的優先等級。其中也有很好玩的功能,例如內置的人工智能圖像創作以及名字十分貼切的Genmojis,后者能夠讓用戶隨意創建定制的表情包(試想一下:用眼睛上貼著黃瓜片的笑臉表示自己在做水療)。
但是與谷歌和Meta包羅萬象的方式不同的是,后者是將生成式人工智能嵌入其產品中,蘋果則另辟蹊徑,在操作系統上疊加精心設計的生成式人工智能層。至少在周一的演示中,似乎沒有一個是額外添加的功能(例如Meta在Instagram、Facebook和WhatsApp中的AI-is-everywhere搜索框)。事實上,這些功能都沒有使用“人工智能”(AI)字眼。
對于AI一詞,消費者已經聽過和看過多年(而且通常聽起來令人感到害怕,充滿未來色彩,還有點怪異),而蘋果卻將其重新命名為Apple Intelligence,并讓其變成了充滿安全感和令人舒心的事物。在科技領域,它相當于針對敏感肌膚的溫和香皂,不僅為消費者帶來了一張全新的面孔,同時念起來更順口,沒有令人不悅的元素。
當然,雷聲大雨點小是大型科技公司演示的通病。對于支撐Apple Intelligence功能的數據源、蘋果與OpenAI有關使用ChatGPT的交易條款,以及蘋果如何應對其AI反饋不可避免的幻覺等重要問題,演示中基本沒有提及。畢竟,安全并不意味著“精確”。當Apple Intelligence被“放生”之后,局面必然會變得十分有意思,而且更混亂。
科技行業內卷十分嚴重,也在翹首期待某家公司能夠駕馭AI并將其轉變為行業的下一個顛覆性產品。至于這家公司是不是蘋果,我們不得而知,但Apple Intelligence發布會的優雅簡約必然會引起谷歌、Meta、亞馬遜,當然還有OpenAI的警覺:人工智能可能十分復雜,但就像史蒂夫·喬布斯說的那樣:“簡約可能比復雜更難以實現:人們必須努力讓自己的想法變得清晰之后才能化繁為簡?!被蛟S,人工智能公司最終還是會找到化繁為簡的辦法——正如喬布斯所言:“創造奇跡?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W)
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
最終,蘋果萬眾期待的AI發布可以說是非常之有蘋果味。隨著蘋果最終發布Apple Intelligence(可謂是做到了品牌調性與該技術本身首字母的完美結合),似乎人人都領略了這家科技巨頭蘋果標缺失部分的美味。蘋果首席執行官蒂姆·庫克稱該技術將彰顯“個性、強大與隱私”,而且將全面地嵌入蘋果的應用和硬件生態系統。
當然,蘋果一直是一個密不透風的“圍墻花園”,在提供周密安全舉措的同時也為用戶設置了大量的限制,因此Apple Intelligence也不例外。然而,正是因為蘋果生態中用戶的個性化環境,再加上強大的生成式人工智能,Apple Intelligence成為了或許只有蘋果公司才能真正實現的技術。
在生成式人工智能前沿領域,蘋果一直都不是第一,而且連邊都靠不上,但該公司卻押注了另一條賽道:“為普羅大眾而生”的人工智能,也就是面向那些對模型、接口、數據組、圖形處理器、設備、通用人工智能并不在意的數十億用戶??萍夹袠I將這些人稱之為“普通人”,他們想要的只是易用、實用、能保護隱私而且真正好用的人工智能。
蘋果高管們承諾在iPhone、iPad和Mac OS設備上推出的功能清單十分冗長。Siri將獲得升級,以變得“自然,更符合語境,以及更個性化。”如果Siri自己無法回答問題,那么它將詢問用戶是否可以求助ChatGPT(得益于蘋果與OpenAI達成的新交易),而且Siri將擁有“屏幕顯示內容理解能力”,最終讓Siri對各大應用的用戶內容做出更具類智能體特性的響應。
iOS 18、iPadOS 18和macOS Sequoia都將推出新的全系統寫作工具,同時AI也將采用新的方式來幫助確定各事項(從消息一直到通知)的優先等級。其中也有很好玩的功能,例如內置的人工智能圖像創作以及名字十分貼切的Genmojis,后者能夠讓用戶隨意創建定制的表情包(試想一下:用眼睛上貼著黃瓜片的笑臉表示自己在做水療)。
但是與谷歌和Meta包羅萬象的方式不同的是,后者是將生成式人工智能嵌入其產品中,蘋果則另辟蹊徑,在操作系統上疊加精心設計的生成式人工智能層。至少在周一的演示中,似乎沒有一個是額外添加的功能(例如Meta在Instagram、Facebook和WhatsApp中的AI-is-everywhere搜索框)。事實上,這些功能都沒有使用“人工智能”(AI)字眼。
對于AI一詞,消費者已經聽過和看過多年(而且通常聽起來令人感到害怕,充滿未來色彩,還有點怪異),而蘋果卻將其重新命名為Apple Intelligence,并讓其變成了充滿安全感和令人舒心的事物。在科技領域,它相當于針對敏感肌膚的溫和香皂,不僅為消費者帶來了一張全新的面孔,同時念起來更順口,沒有令人不悅的元素。
當然,雷聲大雨點小是大型科技公司演示的通病。對于支撐Apple Intelligence功能的數據源、蘋果與OpenAI有關使用ChatGPT的交易條款,以及蘋果如何應對其AI反饋不可避免的幻覺等重要問題,演示中基本沒有提及。畢竟,安全并不意味著“精確”。當Apple Intelligence被“放生”之后,局面必然會變得十分有意思,而且更混亂。
科技行業內卷十分嚴重,也在翹首期待某家公司能夠駕馭AI并將其轉變為行業的下一個顛覆性產品。至于這家公司是不是蘋果,我們不得而知,但Apple Intelligence發布會的優雅簡約必然會引起谷歌、Meta、亞馬遜,當然還有OpenAI的警覺:人工智能可能十分復雜,但就像史蒂夫·喬布斯說的那樣:“簡約可能比復雜更難以實現:人們必須努力讓自己的想法變得清晰之后才能化繁為簡。”或許,人工智能公司最終還是會找到化繁為簡的辦法——正如喬布斯所言:“創造奇跡?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W)
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
In the end, Apple’s highly-anticipated AI announcements were very, well, Apple-y. You could practically feel that bite in the tech giant’s fruit logo as the company finally announced Apple Intelligence (how deliciously on-brand to take advantage of the technology’s initials), which Apple’s Tim Cook touted will be “personal, powerful, and private” and integrated across Apple’s app and hardware ecosystem.
Apple, of course, has always been all about being a protective “walled garden” that provides comprehensive security measures but also plenty of restrictions for users, and Apple Intelligence will be no different. But it is that very personal context of the user within the Apple landscape, combined with the power of generative AI, that makes Apple Intelligence something perhaps only Apple could really do.
Apple has not been first, or anywhere near the cutting edge of generative AI, but it is betting on something else: An AI ‘for the rest of us’ — for the billions of users who don’t care about models or APIs or datasets or GPUs or devices or the potential for artificial general intelligence (AGI). That is, the ‘normies’ — as those in the tech industry like to call them — who simply want AI that is easy, useful, protective of privacy and just works.
The laundry list of features Apple executives promised to roll out across iPhone, iPad and Mac OS devices was long. Siri is getting an upgrade that makes the assistant “natural, more contextually relevant, and more personal.” If Siri can’t answer a question itself, it will ask the user if it’s OK to tap into ChatGPT (thanks to a new deal between Apple and OpenAI) and it will have “on-screen awareness” that will eventually allow Siri to take more agent-like action on user content across apps.
There will be new systemwide writing tools in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, as well as new ways for AI to help prioritize everything from messages to notifications. The fun factor is well-represented as well, with on-device AI image creation and the fittingly-named Genmojis, which let users create custom emojis on-the-fly (think: smiley face with cucumbers on the eyes to indicate you’re at the spa).
But unlike Google and Meta’s throw-everything-at-the-wall approach to integrating generative AI to their products, Apple is taking a different tack, putting a carefully designed layer of gen AI on top of its operating system. None of it, at least in Monday’s demo, seems bolted on as an afterthought (like Meta’s AI-is-everywhere search bar in Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, for example). And none of it, in fact, really uses the word AI as in “artificial intelligence.”
The re-branding of AI as Apple Intelligence takes a technology consumers have heard and read about for more than a year (and which has often sounded frightening, futuristic and kind of freaky), and serves it up as something that’s soothingly safe and secure. It’s the tech equivalent of a mild soap for sensitive skin, offering consumers a freshly-scrubbed face with no hard-to-pronounce and potentially irritating ingredients.
Of course, Big Tech demos are notorious for big announcements that don’t always deliver. And there were few details about important issues like the provenance of the data powering Apple Intelligence features, the terms of Apple’s deal with OpenAI for access to ChatGPT, and how Apple plans to deal with the inevitable hallucinations that will result from its AI output. After all, safe and secure does not mean “accurate.” When Apple Intelligence is released “in the wild,” things are sure to get interesting, and messier.
The tech world is in a fierce battle to see which company will be able to take AI and turn it into the industry’s next game-changer. Whether that is Apple or not remains to be seen, but the elegant simplicity of the Apple Intelligence announcements certainly puts Google, Meta, Amazon and yes, OpenAI on notice: AI may be complicated, but as Steve Jobs said, “simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” Perhaps, AI companies will finally figure out how to keep it simple—and as Jobs said, “move mountains.”