Apple withdraws malfunctioning AI news service
The AI-generated alert service from the US tech giant has faced criticism due to factual inaccuracies. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Apple has decided to discontinue its AI-generated news alert service following a series of complaints regarding incorrect information. The US tech giant implemented a software update on Thursday that disables this feature for news and entertainment notifications, as reported by various media outlets.
This decision came about due to multiple incidents of misinformation. A particularly notable example involved a report claiming that Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself, which was attributed to the BBC. Other false reports included a notification that darts player Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts Championship before the event took place, as well as an incorrect assertion that tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
These inaccuracies led the BBC to register a formal complaint with Apple in December, as the erroneous summaries were displayed alongside the British state broadcaster's logo.
“With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable,” the BBC quoted an Apple spokesperson on Friday.
“We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update,” the spokesperson added.
According to the BBC, Apple’s decision to remove the feature “speaks volumes about just how damaging the errors made by its much-hyped new AI feature actually are.”
In the wake of the incident, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders cautioned that “generative AI services are still too immature to produce reliable information for the public, and should not be allowed on the market for such uses.”
A study conducted by Cornell University in New York in July 2024 pointed out that the prevalent “hallucinations” seen in leading AI models pose “a major challenge.”
The use of AI in journalism has been on the rise. A 2023 survey from the London School of Economics revealed that nearly three in four news organizations were employing AI for news gathering, production, or distribution.
Ramin Sohrabi contributed to this report for TROIB News
This decision came about due to multiple incidents of misinformation. A particularly notable example involved a report claiming that Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself, which was attributed to the BBC. Other false reports included a notification that darts player Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts Championship before the event took place, as well as an incorrect assertion that tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
These inaccuracies led the BBC to register a formal complaint with Apple in December, as the erroneous summaries were displayed alongside the British state broadcaster's logo.
“With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable,” the BBC quoted an Apple spokesperson on Friday.
“We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update,” the spokesperson added.
According to the BBC, Apple’s decision to remove the feature “speaks volumes about just how damaging the errors made by its much-hyped new AI feature actually are.”
In the wake of the incident, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders cautioned that “generative AI services are still too immature to produce reliable information for the public, and should not be allowed on the market for such uses.”
A study conducted by Cornell University in New York in July 2024 pointed out that the prevalent “hallucinations” seen in leading AI models pose “a major challenge.”
The use of AI in journalism has been on the rise. A 2023 survey from the London School of Economics revealed that nearly three in four news organizations were employing AI for news gathering, production, or distribution.
Ramin Sohrabi contributed to this report for TROIB News
