Apple Urged to Drop AI Feature Over False News Alerts
Apple faces growing pressure to remove its AI feature, which has inaccurately summarized breaking news notifications on its latest devices and, in some cases, created false claims. The BBC raised concerns with Apple in December after the feature misrepresented its reporting.
Apple Intelligence Feature Spread Fake News Stories
Apple Intelligence, an artificial intelligence feature on iPhones, faces criticism after producing fake news alerts, fueling concerns about the technology’s role in spreading misinformation.
Apple is under pressure to withdraw its controversial AI feature, which has delivered inaccurate news alerts on its latest devices.
Designed to summarize breaking news notifications, the feature has fabricated false claims.
Apple launched the feature in the U.K. in December 2024. It is available exclusively on iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models running iOS 18.1 and above, as well as on select iPads and Macs.
Apple's press release says the feature allows users to use Apple Intelligence for enhanced functionality. It lets users refine their writing, summarize notifications, emails and messages, interact with a more natural Siri, and remove distracting objects from images using the Clean Up tool, among other capabilities.
Apple AI Tool Fabricated BBC Stories
The BBC raised concerns with Apple in December over the misrepresentation of its news, but the company only responded recently, saying it was working to clarify that the summaries were AI-generated.
Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian, urged Apple to take stronger action, calling for the removal of the product, which he described as “clearly not ready.”
Rusbridger, who also serves on Meta's Oversight Board for content moderation appeals, criticized the technology as “out of control” and warned of its significant potential to spread misinformation.
“Trust in news is low enough already without giant American corporations coming in and using it as a kind of test product,” he told the Today program on BBC Radio 4.
The National Union of Journalists, one of the world's largest journalist unions, called on Apple to “act swiftly” and remove its Apple Intelligence feature to prevent public misinformation.
Reporters Without Borders also criticized Apple's response as inadequate and reiterated its call for the product to be taken offline.
Apple AI Feature Generates Series of Errors
In December 2024, the BBC raised concerns after an AI-generated summary of one of its headlines falsely claimed that Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself.
On Friday, Apple’s AI misinterpreted BBC app notifications again, inaccurately stating that Luke Littler won the PDC World Darts Championship hours before the event began.
The AI tool also fabricated news claiming Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal announced he was gay.
Apple responded to the BBC’s complaints about these errors, which misleadingly appeared to originate from the BBC app.
“These AI summaries by Apple do not reflect – and, in some cases, completely contradict – the original BBC content,” the BBC said Monday.
“It is critical that Apple urgently addresses these issues as the accuracy of our news is essential in maintaining trust.”
Apple's AI tool also affected stories from The New York Times. In November, a ProPublica journalist flagged misleading Apple AI summaries of Times alerts, including one falsely suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested.
Another inaccurate summary involving a New York Times story emerged January 6, misrepresenting coverage related to the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riots.
Apple to Resolve Problem Based on ‘User Feedback’
On Monday, Apple told the BBC it is developing an update to address the issue by adding a clarification to indicate when Apple Intelligence generates the text displayed in notifications. Currently, the generated news summaries appear as if they originate directly from the source.
“Apple Intelligence features are in beta, and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback,” the company said in a statement shared with the BBC.
Apple added that it is encouraging users to report concerns if they view an “unexpected notification summary.”
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