The first batch of Apple Intelligence features will be available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users next week. After much anticipation, at least some of Apple’s long-awaited features will finally be released. Ahead of this launch, The Wall Street Journal‘s Joanna Stern talked with Apple’s software chief, Craig Federighi, about Apple Intelligence, its limitations, and why some features have been delayed.
One of the key features is the Clean Up tool. Apple says this feature can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo without accidentally altering the subject. In real-world scenarios, the tool is great for removing an object or person from a solid background, such as a bird from a blue sky. However, more complex backgrounds leave behind visible errors.
Apple’s Craig Federigh explains that this limitation is intentional. While many AI tools try to generate new parts of a photo, Apple doesn’t. “People view photographic content as something they can rely on as indicative of reality,” Federighi said. “It’s important to us that we help purvey accurate information, not fantasy.”
Craig says Apple held lengthy discussions about how much it should help users edit parts of an image. The company has also considered the amount of users who wanted something like that as well. “The demand for people to want to clean up what seems like extraneous details to the photo that don’t fundamentally change the meaning of what happened have been very, very high, so we’ve been willing to take that small step,” he revealed.
During the interview, he also discussed another feature coming later this year: Image Playground. This Apple Intelligence function lets users generate an image based on the user’s input, such as a sketch, text, or picture.
Instead of creating images that could look real, Apple decided it would follow a different approach with drawn images instead. That way, users can still express themselves with AI, but other people can understand the differences between a photo and generated content.
Wrap up
While the full interview is locked behind a paywall to subscribers, a portion of it is available on The Wall Street Journal‘s YouTube channel. Below, you can also learn more about Apple Intelligence features, including the iPhone’s upcoming Clean Up tool.
