Apple shrugs off BBC complaint with promise to 'further clarify' AI content Apple plans to update an AI feature that produced an alarmingly incorrect summary of a BBC news story. The feature generated a headline summary which falsely claimed that Luigi Mangione, a man arrested over the murder of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thomson, had shot himself. The summary was attributed to BBC News and …
I am sure they will do something about it, when it produces a libelous headline and they end up getting sued over it. Or when Apple 'intelligence' creates a headline that is negative about Apple themselves.
Until then they need a AI tool cos its the flavour of the month and Apple users can't be seen as missing out on the hype.
They might win, but I doubt they would win damages large enough to make Apple stop and think. If they did get the first court to impose such things, that's when Apple's lawyers would get into action, making sure that, at the end of this, Apple would pay a much smaller amount some time in 2034. If their lawyers ever get lucky, then Apple pays nothing and it all goes away. It's not that they have enough lawyers that they never lose, but rather that they have enough lawyers that they never lose big and they have enough money that they can lose small over and over and not notice.
If I was being cynical, is it not just BBC journalists acting all outraged at a technology that can replace them with an AI?
You know, "the AI took ooor joooobs!"
Frankly I find AI at least manages to write neutral articles that are mostly correct. Frankly I do not trust any journalist to write unbiased articles in these times.
No, it's - obviously - not. Yes, AI is a threat to many things to some extent but when the AI is very obviously making stuff up with summaries that are associated with the BBC and not Apple then the damage from inaccuracy for some people is going to stick to the BBC. It's nothing to do with bias, it's an automated system being wrong.
What about a summary of your post being "Reg reader demands puppies be drowned at birth"?
"Or when Apple 'intelligence' creates a headline that is negative about Apple themselves."
"Apple lays off 1000's, shuts down all AI research development claiming it's all bullshit, moves into toilet paper manufacturing industry."
Apple News, Jan 9, 2024
Possibly produce by an AI. Maybe. And it's definitely, probably, possibly, maybe true unless Apple fact checks it because this AI poster, like Apple, doesn't do fact checking so is safe from any possible legal action other than responding to a take down request if it comes with a provable rebuttal.
(Disclaimer produced by my legal assistance AI)
"A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence. We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary."
Strange language there, “unexpected”? Almost like they didn’t want write “inaccurate”.
Um... its possible to make the AI work in these scenario's. The fact that Apple hasnt made it work is hugely embarrising. This is 101 stuff -the only complexity is scale - which is non-trivial but should be solvable with Apples resources. Unfortunately though the engineering under the skin is looking really well thought out - the Product management and testing is looking appalling.
If you want to vomit LLM output into the faces of the unwilling public you should absolutely be legally liable for any statements it makes and anyone who is subject to AI slander should be able to sue the ass off the company responsible. They will keep pulling this nonsense until it becomes financially untenable.
Like the rest of the establishment, it promotes itself as being holier than thou. It peers down its nose at the great unwashed, smug in its attitude that it is better than everyone else.
The BBC makes plenty of errors. Here is its own list, which is by no means complete: https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_clarifications/.
So you are complaining about the BBC's inaccuracy by linking to the page where they list the errors they are aware of and correct them? Wouldn't it actually be quite nice if all news publishers provided this kind of aggregated detail about incorrect information, rather than reluctantly printing apologies in small print on page 9 in the hope no-one will notice?
Evidently you have missed the point, so let me state it in small words so you more easily understand. The BBC has long made, and continues to make, mistakes. Yet when somebody, or rather some thing, makes a mistake, the BBC acts as though its farts smell like freshly-cut daffodils when it points its finger elsewhere.
As for 'reluctantly printing apologies', try reading the BBC's words. Their so-called apologies and corrections are so mealy-mouthed they would feed a herd of horses.
This post has been deleted by its author
A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence."
Not sure that's going to help.
'Elon Musk assassinated in drive-by shooting. Killed by two shots from aggrieved Tesla owner. Melania Trump announces divorce. Nigel Farage names Tommy Robinson as next leader of Reform UK. Kemi Badencih admits she voted for BNP, supports AfD - This news summary is auto-generated by AI Intelligence'
It's still iBullshit, lies, misinformation.
TBH they are so shit that they are doing a good job of convincing users that AI is effectively worthless.
Maybe it's just a ploy to remove our fear of AI before we're all replaced by semi-functional AI agents that can do 25% of our job for 50% of the cost.
Ensuring profits can still be increased despite all customers being near destitute because we've all been replaced by semi-functional AI agents.
"While putting control over receiving the summaries into the hands of users is helpful, it would be better for Apple to make this an opt in feature until the issues have been ironed out."
The summaries are so egregiously wrong it would be better for Apple to completely disable the feature until it can guarantee a reasonable level of accuracy.
I suspect the time that they can make that guarantee is 'never'.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
