iOS 18 to Use AI to Summarize Notifications, Add to Calendar, and More

Apple is poised to unveil an auto-summarization feature for notifications as part of a series of new artificial intelligence features in iOS 18, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In today's edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman provided more detail about what to expect from Apple's first major move into generative AI at its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference:

As part of the changes, the company will improve Siri's voice capabilities, giving it a more conversational feel, and add features that help users with their day-to-day lives — an approach it calls "proactive intelligence."

That includes services like auto-summarizing notifications from your iPhone, giving a quick synopsis of news articles and transcribing voice memos, as well as improving existing features that auto-populate your calendar and suggest apps. There will also be some enhancements to photos in the form of AI-based editing, but none of those features will impress people who have used AI in Adobe Inc.'s apps for the last several months.

Gurman added that while Apple will mainly rely on on-device processing to support its AI features, it will also deliver them via the cloud in data centers that contain high-end Apple silicon chips designed for the Mac. He also noted that a ChatGPT-like chatbot will be noticeably absent from Apple's upcoming AI features. Apple executives are said to have admitted that they're "playing catch-up" internally.

Apple's inaugural push into AI is widely expected to be revealed as part of previews of its next-generation software updates at WWDC, which begins on June 10.