Why Siri isn’t ChatGPT: Federighi on Apple’s approach to AI

Apple’s head of software, Craig Federighi, recently sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss the company’s cautious approach to artificial intelligence and the future of Siri. While Apple has been slower to roll out generative AI tools compared to competitors, Federighi stressed the importance of doing things the right way, with a focus on privacy and user experience.

Apple’s cautious approach to AI

In October, Apple plans to release new AI features through iOS 18.1 for the iPhone 15 Pro and the upcoming iPhone 16. These features, called Apple Intelligence, will also come to Macs and iPads. While companies like OpenAI have quickly introduced AI products like ChatGPT, Apple has taken a slower route.

“We feel like we want to get it right,” Federighi said, adding that Apple views this as a long-term project. “This is a many year, honestly, even decades-long arc of this technology playing out, and so we’re gonna do it responsibly.”

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Prioritizing privacy with local AI models

Apple’s AI approach stands out because of its strong focus on privacy. Federighi explained that Apple runs most AI models directly on users’ devices, meaning personal data stays local. Only in some cases, such as long-form summarization, does Apple use cloud computing for better performance.

“When you asked to summarize a message, it was encrypted to a trusted device in the cloud. Apple had no access to that email, no one else did,” Federighi said. He emphasized that Apple’s cloud computing system—called Private Cloud Compute—is designed so that the company doesn’t see or store user data.

Apple’s AI approach stands out because of its strong focus on privacy (Image credit) Siri will become smarter over time

Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, has been a key part of its product line for over a decade. Federighi admitted that Siri is still evolving, but said it handles around 1.5 billion requests every day.

Federighi explained that Siri’s usefulness will increase as Apple Intelligence and large language models make the assistant more capable of understanding user commands. Siri will also begin answering more detailed questions based on user information, like calendars and messages.

“Siri can understand you better than ever before and is gonna have access to more tools on your device to do more for you than ever before,” Federighi said.

However, he stressed that Siri is still far from being a fully sentient assistant. “Is there gonna be one moment where we say, ‘Siri is now my sentient pal’? No, it’s gonna continue to get better and better.”

Apple previewed many AI tools at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. However, some of these features are still not available. Federighi explained that the company chose to delay certain features in order to ensure they work properly.

“This is a big lift, and we feel like we want to get it right,” he said. Federighi added that Apple prefers to release AI tools in stages, rather than rushing them to market.

One of the new features already available is notification summaries. This tool helps users manage their notifications by summarizing important alerts, like whether their garage door is open or closed. However, Federighi acknowledged that AI summaries for sensitive matters, such as breakups, might feel impersonal.

“We’re not gonna automatically summarize the notification because we’re saying like, ‘We’re probably not gonna do a good job with this,’” Federighi explained.

 Federighi explained that Apple runs most AI models directly on users’ devices (Image credit) Editing photos with AI

Apple has also introduced a new photo-editing feature, known as Cleanup, which lets users remove unwanted objects from photos. Federighi said the company debated internally whether to make it easy for users to alter photos.

“We are concerned that there’s a great history to photography and how people view photographic content as something they can rely on as indicative of reality,” Federighi said. To avoid misleading users, Apple includes metadata on edited photos so others can see that changes were made.

Curious wait for Apple Intelligence

Federighi confirmed that Apple Intelligence features will roll out gradually over the next year. While some aspects of AI, like Siri’s deeper integration with tools like ChatGPT, aren’t ready yet, Apple is working on it.

“We want customers who are excited about what’s to come to know, ‘Okay, if I buy this phone, is this the right phone that’s gonna do those things?’ And yes it is,” Federighi said.

For now, users can expect more AI updates and guides, such as an upcoming tutorial on how to clean AirPods—a detail Federighi joked about in the interview.

Featured image credit: Omid Armin/Unsplash