Apple has canceled its AI-generated news alerts after a series of high-profile SNAFUs.
The tech giant has been facing increasing criticism over its Apple Intelligence service with complaints from the likes of the BBC, US journalists and news organizations about news alerts that appeared to come from these organizations and were either false or poorly summarized.
One notable example saw an Apple-issued alert from BBC News falsely telling readers that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. A news summary released by Apple claimed that darts star Luke Littler had won the World Championships final before it had even begun, while another falsely told some users of the BBC Sport app that tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
Journalists on social media have also criticized the feature because it inaccurately summarizes headlines in major US newspapers.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint with Apple Intelligence in mid-December, demanding that Apple remove this technology.
An Apple spokesperson told the BBC: “With the latest software betas for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, notification summaries for the News and Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable.” “We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update.”
Yesterday, the BBC published guidance on how it plans to use AI in its news coverage and TV programmes, as it tries to strike a balance between taking advantage of the technology while not overusing it.
