Speaker 1: The M three chip is in the MacBook Air and the battle for best laptops is now being fought on a whole new level. Apple released new 13 and 15 inch MacBook airs with the new M three processor and going beyond the fact that there is an updated chip, there is one more thing about the news that stood out to me above all else, apple is talking about ai. In the first paragraph of the MacBook Air Press release, apple wrote it is the world's best consumer laptop for ai. Apple said ai. Apple [00:00:30] does ai, but Apple never says ai. Apple is careful with language. It likes to use other terms like machine learning. Apple never bothers itself to be tied to the latest buzz words. It doesn't get caught up in the hype races. But here we are suddenly embracing AI and all the baggage that comes with that label because AI is the battlefield for laptop and PC companies.
Speaker 1: Right now, apple wants the world's most valuable company, is feeling Wall Street's pressure and desperate thirst [00:01:00] for all things artificial intelligence. Ever since Microsoft overtook Apple in the top spot, Microsoft is now valued more than Apple, and now AI chip maker Nvidia jumped to the third highest valued company spot. So Apple has caught smack inside an AI fever sandwich. This goes beyond laptops on a recent earnings call. Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that generative AI software is coming to Apple products later this year. That means phones too. Alright, apple [00:01:30] wants to finally talk about AI lit us talk about ai. I will go over what Apple's new AI could look like this year and what I wish Apple would do to make our lives easier without falling into the creepy and uncomfortable side of ai. I'm Bridget Carey, and this is one more thing. Let us start with a word about how AI fits into the new MacBook Air.
Speaker 1: On the outside. This laptop looks the same as the previous model. It's also at the same starting price of 1090 $9. It's got [00:02:00] faster wifi six e support, and you can hook up two external displays if the lid is closed. Whoop d do. But Apple says this new entry processor can handle AI tasks even better than before. Apple is setting the stage for the AI that is to come. Apple boasts that the M three has this great performance when running AI models for language and image generation locally on the device. So prepare yourself for debates on which laptop is best for working with ai. [00:02:30] There is a report from the news site Windows Central saying that Microsoft could debut its first IPCs later this month. So that means we're going to see surface laptops that are centered around not just having powerful processors for ai, but also having built-in software for AI experiences.
Speaker 1: What if you could turn everything you do on a computer into a searchable moment using everyday language? You could ask the computer, find me a list of restaurants Jenna said she liked, or at least that's [00:03:00] one example that was reported on. So could we see similar AI tricks later this year in Mac Os? We might find out at WDC in June when Apple unveils the new Mac OS and iOS 18 as expected. Bloomberg reports that a big part of the new iOS and Mac OS will be AI features. We could hear Apple introduce a tool that makes it easier to build programs with X code. That's Apple's programming software. Maybe it could predict and complete blocks of code [00:03:30] on its own based on what you ask it to do. It's a way for programmers to perhaps save time. Now what about chatbots? Is there an Apple version of chat GPT?
Speaker 1: Well, there has been talk about Apple testing something in this space, but not much is known yet on how it would be implemented if it does come out. Bloomberg says Apple has explored AI that could automate the creation of Apple Music playlists or make slideshow for you. In keynote AI could also be used to make search smarter in the spotlight tool. Perhaps [00:04:00] you could search for something across apps in a more conversational way. Building AI into the operating system itself means software could create personalized experiences, stitching together many points of information into a new thing. It can make predictions of what you want before you even know you want it, be it on a laptop or a phone. Fellow CNET reporter, Katie Collins saw the future of AI and phones when she was at the tech show Mobile World Congress. There was a concept phone made [00:04:30] in part with help from the company, brain ai, and it was able to book a flight just by having you say exactly what kind of flight you needed without having to dive into different apps.
Speaker 1: So would a future phone just eliminate the need to use an app for everything and instead use interactive AI to create this natural feeling back and forth to help you navigate a task? Does the phone become a personal genie or is that what we think of as a smarter Siri? A main selling point of [00:05:00] sticking with an Apple product is the privacy protections, and right now a lot of generative AI must feed off some sort of data to learn, and Apple needs to be careful how it plays in this space. When we say we want a smarter, more conversational Siri, there is a fine line to walk between helpful and uncomfortably nosy about my home conversations. But Siri does need a lot of help. Just look at this example that happens to me all the time. Hey, Siri, [00:05:30] find my iPhone.
Speaker 2: I found two iPhones nearby, which model? iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 15, pro Max,
Speaker 1: IPhone 15 Pro Max.
Speaker 2: I couldn't find anything called iPhone 15 Pro Max set up and find my Bridget.
Speaker 1: Every time Siri can get tripped up on the small things, depending on how you ask a question, we need to see some improvements with Siri and depending on how it is done, it might mean Siri needs to be able to access data. Coming in from some [00:06:00] of my other apps, many of Apple's customers are the creative type. We do not want to see generative AI destroy the value of human-made creations. I personally do not want to see an Apple AI contribute to this world where we cannot believe what we see in photos. I don't want apples to go down the Google path of erasing people, changing faces, warping what really happened in the moment. So I want to see Apple lean into using AI to be more of an assistant in my private needs with the most basic of tasks. [00:06:30] Here's an idea. Can AI please just help me organize my files better?
Speaker 1: Help me make my cluttered desktop a thing of the past? Or could we use AI to help me communicate easier between two languages? So a dictation can tell if I'm switching between Spanish and English. Automatically the same goes for transcribing voicemails in multiple languages and not turning one into gobbly Go. It's the small things that can matter more in bettering our lives. There's lots of excitement about how iOS 18 will have new AI features, [00:07:00] but the iPhone has a bunch of hidden AI features already. Artificial intelligence algorithms help you take better photos. There's another trick called live text. You point your camera at text in the real world and it could be copied or translated or if it's a phone number you could call the number. AI also helps stitch together those personalized photo memories. It can pick the right images of the people you care about and blend it to music to make little slideshow movies.
Speaker 1: And again, AI is in the smarts behind your Apple [00:07:30] music recommendations, using your listening patterns to make suggestions aligned to your taste. The iPhone keyboard has AI predictions get better the more you type and autocorrect is more accurate. The same goes for dictation. There's also personal voice. This is under accessibility and it's a way for you to teach the iPhone how you speak, and then it can sound like your voice. That can be helpful for folks that may be losing their ability to speak. If you want to tinker with some AI in the phone today, we have a whole story [00:08:00] up about it on cnet. You should check out. Apple is constantly taking steps to put more AI tools in your phone, but in a way where you may not even realize it. With everything moving so fast. I hope Apple keeps the slow thoughtful pace here because I'd rather see AI done right to help people rather than have it rushed to help Wall Street. What do you see as some potential for Apple's AI plans? Every week we go over one more thing happening in the world of Apple. So I'll see you again next Friday [00:08:30] and subscribe to the channel and let's find out together if any of these predictions come true.
