Apple’s new AI-powered notification summary feature introduced in iOS 18.1 is facing increased scrutiny following a series of errors cited by the BBC, 9To5Mac reported.
The feature, which condenses notifications into bite-sized summaries, is designed to streamline the user experience, but recent mishaps suggest it may need further improvements, the publication says. It is written on the item.
Notably, this feature is still in beta stage and is intended to provide users with a quick overview of notifications rather than the full content. According to the report, Apple acknowledges the possibility of errors and encourages users to report any inaccuracies to help improve the system.
However, the BBC was quick to point out the shortcomings of this feature, pointing out that it led to misleading and completely false notifications.
According to the report, in one particularly notable example in December, an AI-generated summary inaccurately claimed that Luigi Mangione had committed suicide, a statement that was completely false. This is part of a wider pattern of errors that the BBC has continued to highlight, leading to concerns about the reliability of the new technology.
The latest example, reported by the BBC’s Imran Rahman-Jones, involves darts player Luke Littler falsely claiming to have won the PDC World Championship despite not having played in the finals yet. This includes, the paper added. Additionally, another notification falsely claimed that tennis icon Rafael Nadal had come out as gay, misleading some users of the BBC Sport app.
These errors highlight the challenges of relying on AI for real-time news summaries, especially when it comes to breaking news. While AI can quickly condense information, there is a high risk of misunderstandings and inaccuracies, especially in the fast-paced world of sports and current events.
Given these ongoing issues, there is growing speculation that Apple will eventually disable AI-generated summaries in its News app by default, at least until the technology improves.
