Apple will bring artificial intelligence to devices and Siri as part of the long-awaited OpenAI:NPR partnership

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

Apple’s digital assistant, Siri, may soon have a lot more to say.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Yes, Siri is currently being modernized with ChatGPT, which is part of a major deal announced by the company yesterday.

SCHMITZ: NPR tech correspondent Dara Kerr follows the news and is here to talk about it. Good morning, Dara.

DARA KERR, BYLINE: Good morning.

SCHMITZ: So, Dara, tell us about what Apple announced.

KERR: Every year, Apple hosts a large developer conference, and it’s mainly for tech insiders. But a lot of people watched yesterday. That’s because there have been rumors that Apple is going to announce a partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. And at the very end of the almost two-hour speech came this announcement.

SCHMITZ: And why is this important? What difference will this make to, say, the average iPhone user?

KERR: Yes, thanks to Siri you can now ask questions and it will tell you where to find the answers on the Internet. But when it is integrated with ChatGPT, we will have OpenAI technology and we will be able to browse the web and formulate our own answers. So if you ask it, for example, how to make a Philly cheesecake, it will search recipes all over the web and come back with its own list of ingredients and cooking instructions. And like ChatGPT, Siri will also be able to write essays and stories. Here’s how Apple software chief Craig Federighi explains it.

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CRAIG FEDERIGHI: Let’s say you want to create a custom bedtime story for your 6-year-old who loves butterflies and solving puzzles. Pitch your initial idea and send it to ChatGPT to get something she likes in return.

SCHMITZ: I think the jury’s out on how many six-year-olds would enjoy a ChatGPT-inspired story, but it looks like…

KERR: Yes (laughter).

SCHMITZ: …Every day we hear about the evolution of artificial intelligence. Did Apple have a chance to compete?

KERR: Apple was definitely feeling the pressure. Other major technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft have already implemented artificial intelligence tools. However, I must say that it hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing for all of these companies. Just last week, for example, Google announced that it was discontinuing its new AI-powered search tool. That’s because within hours of its debut, the tool gives people all kinds of crazy and potentially dangerous answers. And, you know, ChatGPT itself has also been accused of various things, including plagiarism and copyright infringement. He made things up and gave wrong and biased answers. So when Siri gets ChatGPT and starts doing that, it could be really risky for Apple.

SCHMITZ: Yes, that’s what it sounds like. That is, does Apple basically outsource AI development to this company?

KERR: No, not really. Yesterday, it also announced its own series of AI-focused tools. It brings it all together into something the company calls Apple Intelligence. But these are tools that will be familiar to us because we have seen them in other companies’ products. There are writing tools you can use to write emails, letters, or essays to your 6-year-old. Fundamentally, what we’re seeing is nothing new, but it’s the first time we’ve seen Apple really use artificial intelligence. This is important because millions of people own iPhones and other Apple products. Essentially, the company will make ChatGPT and other AI tools available to a vast new group of people.

SCHMITZ: I’m trying to turn artificial intelligence into Apple intelligence. NPR tech correspondent Dara Kerr, thank you.

KERR: Thank you very much.

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