BREAK DOWN APPLE INTELLIGENCE

Better late than never, Apple’s take on Al focuses on the personal information that you store on your Apple devices

- Cliff Joseph

Well, it took its time, but Apple has finally taken the plunge and embraced artificial intelligence - and, as always, it has managed to put its own distinctive spin on the technology as well. That's because Apple didn't simply announce the use of generic 'AI', like so many other companies in the last year or so. Apple's version of 'AI' stands for 'Apple Intelligence', and it puts a particular emphasis on features that understand your personal needs, but which also respect your privacy.

That's very much the Apple way of doing things. For all its boasts about innovation, Apple rarely invents entirely new technologies. What it does very well, though, is to spot emerging technologies and then figure out a way to turn those technologies into an attractive product that appeals to a huge worldwide audience. Apple wasn't the first company to come up with a portable music player, or even a smartphone, but when it launched the iPod in 2001, and the iPhone in 2007, it came up with devices that were simply far better designed than any of their rivals, and those products conquered the world because millions of people really wanted to own those cool gadgets and hold them in their hands (see also the MacBook Air, iPad and AirPods).

MACHINE LEARNING

Mind you, it is true that Apple has been a bit behind the curve with AI, as the technology has been all over the headlines for the last couple of years, and a variety of AI chatbots and tools are already widely in use. The AI frenzy has also boosted Nvidia, the main company that produces powerful computer processors for running AI systems, to the point where it now rivals Apple as one of the most valuable companies in the world.