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Apple has temporarily turned off its AI Notification Summaries feature in the latest developer beta of iOS 18.3. The tech giant has taken this decision after users voiced criticism over inaccurate summaries of news and entertainment app content.
AI Notification Summaries introduced in iOS 18.1 were aimed at aggregating and summarizing notifications. However, it has faced backlash for misrepresenting information about sensitive news events.
In one notable instance, Apple's AI wrongly stated that Luigi Mangione, linked to the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. The BBC criticized Apple for the error, leading the company to promise improvements and roll out updates clarifying when text is AI-generated.
Apple has tweaked the feature with the new beta release to make it more transparent. A disclosure message is now shown when users activate notification summaries. The message warns them that the feature is in beta and may give errors. Also, iOS 18.3 now lets users turn off specific app notifications from the lock screen by swiping and tapping ‘Turn Off Summaries’.
Apple has also added visual differentiation of AI-generated summaries and standard notifications using italic text for summaries. This is aimed at providing the user with clarity and avoiding confusion.
In a statement to Engadget, Apple acknowledged the issues, saying, “Apple Intelligence features are in beta, and we are continuously making improvements.” The company requested that users continue to report issues regarding incorrect or unexpected notifications.
This is another setback for a successful rollout of all the Apple Intelligence features. However, the giant plans to perfect the system soon. Improvements are anticipated for future iOS updates. Apple has chosen to put a pause on the feature with a continued emphasis on quality and accuracy with user satisfaction.
