Could A Smarter Siri Infused With AI (‘Apple Intelligence’) Turn Apple’s Smartphones Into Intelliphones?

FEATURE – The iPhone is already smart, but it’s about to become more intelligent.

AI — short for artificial intelligence — is widely expected to be the main topic of discussion at this year’s WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developerrs Conference). According to a report from Bloomberg, the Cupertino, California-based company will be introducing its own version of this technology (dubbed, “Apple Intelligence“) at the event.

However, while Apple’s implementation of this new AI system will be a revolutionary step forward for all of its products, it will be evolutionary for one product category in particular… its smartphones.

**AD: For the best deals, latest discounts, and lowest prices on all Apple products from apple.com and Apple Authorized Resellers, make sure to check out the award-winning and exclusive price trackers on MacPrices. Pricing updated daily, seven days a week!

At this year’s WWDC, Apple, per a report from Business Insider, is expected to unveil a slew of new features powered by AI designed specifically for the iPhone (via an update to the company’s mobile software platform, iOS).

Key among these is Apple’s personal digital assistant, Siri, a feature that reportedly will be receiving a major overhaul at the event and seeing it enhanced with artificial intelligence.

According to the report from Bloomberg, with Siri, users for the first time ever will be able to have precise control over individual features and actions within apps. For example, a user will be able to ask Apple’s personal digital assistant to summarize a news article, edit a photo, or delete an email.

In addition, users will be able to automatically create responses to emails, as well as text messages, with the use of a new feature called “reply suggestions” (as reported by Bloomberg).

Originally a standalone app for the iPhone, in 2011 — beginning with the release of the iPhone 4s (which the “s” is believed to stand for) — Siri was integrated into iOS and eventually incorporated into the company’s other software platforms (e.g., MacOS). As for the forthcoming announcements at this year’s WWDC, Apple’s personal digital assistant is reportedly about to become even smarter and more useful than it ever was before.

“Forget the days of asking Siri to do something simple and getting puzzled responses,” wrote writer, Kevin Raposo (in an article for the website, KnowTechie).

Last month, in advance of the forthcoming announcements at this year’s WWDC, Bank of America Securities analysts published a research note (as reported by Business Insider)that outlined a wide range of potential capabilities that would transform smartphones — such as Apple’s — into IntelliPhones, phones enhanced with artificial intelligence. Notably, one of the features mentioned was the notion of an advanced personal digital assistant that is context aware, effectively allowing it to provide more relevant and timely responses as well as the ability to proactively suggest actions based on user patterns.

According to a report from TechCrunch, the Cupertino, California-based company’s near-term strategy for artificial intelligence will involve a deep integration of generative AI into Apple’s existing software platforms, albeit, with Siri at its core.

As a sidebar, in addition to iOS, Apple had hoped to make Siri an integral part of its other software platforms (e.g., MacOS). Unfortunately, as noted by TechCrunch, the company’s efforts fell short of the revolution it originally envisioned for the iPhone as well as its other products.

“this isn’t just Apple’s chance to show it’s doing AI right. It’s also an opportunity to redefine the conversation about AI to make it more substantive and results-oriented–…,” wrote writer, Jason Snell (in a column for Macworld). “…if Apple can see beyond the latest tech-industry hype cycle — and, it’s generally good at doing that — it can bet on iPhone users being more interested in real features than impractical nonsense.”

“But, now it needs to deliver.”

The latest tech industry hype cycle, as noted by Business Insider, is in overdrive right now and if Apple wants to keep up with the competition — or, move ahead of it — it needs to show off its accomplishments in AI at this year’s WWDC. Additionally, as if that wasn’t enough, a new battle is currently brewing over intelliphones and which handset manufacturer will be the first to market phones enhanced with artificial intelligence… will it be the iPhone maker that accomplishes this feat?

About This Column: “Mac Potpourri” is a column periodically published on MacPrices throughout the year (generally on a monthly basis) that primarily aims to take an assortment of previously published articles from around the web (e.g., Business Insider, Macworld, and Wired) containing different angles on the same subject matter with Apple, Inc. at its core — the company whose products’ prices are tracked daily on this website — which are then, in turn, combined into one single article in order to provide readers with a better sense of the main idea and/or topic of discussion being presented: hence, the word potpourri in this column’s name. (Note: sources are always cited within the article as embedded links, however, may be updated by their respective publishers and/or deleted over time).