Apple suspends AI-generated news summaries after criticism over misleading notifications
Apple has suspended AI-generated summaries of news notifications after some were criticised for being misleading and false.
Many publishers flagged up errors in the way the feature had worded their original push notifications.
The National Union of Journalists told Sky News earlier this week it wasn’t “fit for purpose” and should be taken down.
Reporters Without Borders warned it was a “danger to the public’s right to reliable information” and could damage the reputation of news organisations.
Notifications from Sky News, the BBC, The New York Times and The Daily Telegraph were among those affected.
Examples include suggesting Sir Keir Starmer had changed his mind on inheritance tax, murder suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself, Luke Littler had won the darts world championships before the final, and that rape survivor Gisele Pelicot had “defended her convictions”.
It comes at a time when many people are increasingly seeing misleading information on social media sites, some of it enabled by AI.
Apple paused the summary feature for news and entertainment apps as part of an iOS update released on Thursday.
Users who had opted in are being shown a “temporarily unavailable” message, but it’s believed the service will be reinstated after improvements.
The feature has been rolled back for news and entertainment apps
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Before the rollback, a spokesperson told Sky News the original content was “a quick tap away”, adding: “Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback.
“A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarisation provided by Apple Intelligence.”
